Australia has again fallen short in a T20 match against the West Indies, going down by six wickets in a batting collapse.
Australia failed to capitalise on the shorter boundaries in their opening stanza, as captain Aaron Finch top-scored with 30 on what was a flat track.
The Windies were anchored by self-proclaimed ‘Universe Boss’ Chris Gayle, who made 67 off 38 balls in a bullish performance.
Australians’ success in the Big Bash and other international domestic leagues, like the IPL, have not made the impact most were hoping for in the lead up to a T20 World Cup.
The lack of cohesion between players and the new era of being a smash-and-bash cricketer has changed the complexion of international cricket for good. The likes of Aaron Finch and Dan Christian have cemented themselves as part of the T20 landscape and struggled to make an impact in the other two forms of the game.
T20 cricket has evolved and taken on a new life for the way that cricket, in general, is played and Australia needs to start looking at separating the three formats in ways that has never been done before.
Justin Langer took the reigns as coach of Australia as a whole after the incidents of Sandpapergate in 2018, but he needs to focus on Tests and one-dayers.
Instead, the Aussie T20 coach and players must be chosen from a pool of international candidates to steer that format alone.
Luckily, that pool of coaches and staff in the shortest form of the game is strong, constantly being involved in success at the highest level.
Greg Shipperd – who recently coached the Sydney Sixers to the BBL championship – has been a main stay in Australian domestic cricket for a long time, having success in all formats of the game. He has also spent time as part of the Delhi Daredevils in the IPL.
The talent that Australia has overseas and on home soil in the coaching and mentorship roles could be the next direction that Australia takes in the three formats of the game.
Paul
Roar Guru
Looks like it. I find it quite incredible CA can't leave the Ashes as a stand alone series and need to have BBL games as well.
Jeff
Roar Rookie
non-stop
Paul
Roar Guru
This is a link to the BBL schedule. I haven't seen the Shield sceduleyet https://www.cricket.com.au/series/kfc-big-bash-league-bbl-twenty20-bbl11-2021-22/2pkgz9xskkC6FGOZaH-Mcg
Clear as mud
Guest
Christian is getting the run he wanted. It's not looking good, noting it's a small sample. But this is a very unforgiving format.
Clear as mud
Guest
i am on the record as a serious un-fan of Langer But I was just blown away by two things he said publicly: 1. Joking or not, Christian had worn him down and gained selection by constantly ringing and texting him asking to be given a go. Just a bizarre thing to say, and even more bizarre if true. It spoke of someone trying to be folksy and liked. Imagine Hohns trying to answer a question if asked if that was a selection pathway. or did selectors take those things into consideration. and could they publich phone records so we could see if, say, Maxwell had also begged for test selection. 2. That he wanted a contract extension so he could grow to be a very good coach. Not sure if the words are exact. But this is not a gig for learning on the job. It is the AUSTRALIAN CRICKET COACH. We can probably have anyone in the world. Including proven coaches with successful track records. Again, he probably thought it was the right type of fawning mea culpa. It just seemed pathetic to me. Answer: Ponting to coach with Erin Burns running the fielding drills. Maxwell to take over from Finch, and then MMarsh.
Jeff
Roar Rookie
Presumably the last Shield match finishes in November. Seems like there will be BBL matches on after the day's play for at least three Tests - presumably not during the Adelaide D/N or Perth Tests.
Once Upon a Time on the Roar
Roar Guru
Great ... so we won't have reliable first class form for selection beyond the first test.
Jeff
Roar Rookie
Haven't looked into the details, just know it starts 5 Dec - 3 days before the First Test - with the final on 28 Jan.
Once Upon a Time on the Roar
Roar Guru
No I didn't see that. How will it look specifically?
Jeff
Roar Rookie
Did you see that the BBL will be starting before The Ashes this summer?
Jeff
Roar Rookie
It's no coincidence that Australia appointed its first coach in 1986 (Simpson) and the next 20 years starting with the '87 WC were nothing short of spectacular for Australian cricket.
Once Upon a Time on the Roar
Roar Guru
I have a terminology for anti coach at international level rhetoric: Chappelli-ism. Sorry Rowdy, I’m obviously not claiming Chappelli wasn’t a great cricketer.
Jeff
Roar Rookie
Oh right. Who does the opposition breakdown and data analysis. Give that to the captain too?
badmanners
Roar Rookie
Underachiever! :laughing:
Jeff
Roar Rookie
From a workload perspective it makes sense to lessen Langer's load. But, I don't agree with regular commentary that Aus struggles in T20 all come down to Langer and his assistants. The issue is what's happening before the players are making it into the national side. As noted below, you can't pick what you don't have. But you have to still pick a squad from what is available. There is often commentary on the national coaches, but seemingly little focus on the BBL coaches who are the ones that have charge of the players for 2 months straight every year. Can't expect the national coaches to be fixing players' basic skill/awareness issues on a 3-5 game tour.
Jeff
Roar Rookie
What, you think playing 132 ODI matches for 5,232 runs at an average of 41.84, with a SR of 88.42 with 17x100s and 29x50s is having an impact? :laughing: :laughing: So in the last two years he's racked up 6 tons at an ave of 53.35, so what? :silly:
Paul
Roar Guru
You're right, but he has a huge workload, starting with the World Cup, then the Ashes, followed by all those Test tours overseas, with white ball matches mixed in - then another T20 World Cup. I wouldn't have an issue if he stuck with coaching just the T20 squad OR he looks after the other two formats and leaves the T20 to someone else, just to take some of the pressure off and maybe making him less cranky :happy:
Gibbo
Roar Pro
Even with the players who are absent, Australia's biggest problem is that they lack a proper T20 finisher. In their current squad, they have too many openers and not enough middle-order bats. Someone like Labuschagne or Smith would be helpful in that regard. Give Ashton Turner a run as a finisher or Dan Christian. They both have the credentials to do it. Also, until Game 3, Starc really had not shown the best version of himself. It seems to me that he's seriously overthinking his game. Cummins will help, but I'd love to see Behrendorff and Swepson come into the side as well.
Oliver
Roar Rookie
Good points but it’s not like JL is a novice, he had a lot of success with the Scorchers before taking off ver the national side
Paul
Roar Guru
I think you make a very valid point Lachlan, especially now in a time where there are all sorts of restrictions in place, adding way more pressure onto everyone, including coaches. On paper, Langer has pretty good credentials as a T20 coach, but I agree he needs to hand this off and focus on the Test and ODI team. I don't think that will happen until after the T20 World Cup, given that tournament starts in 3 months, ( it would not send a good message, sacking a coach that close to the WC). CA might even wait till after the Ashes to see if they eant Langer at all. A poor showing against Joe Root's team could see him out of a job all together. For mine, Ricky Ponting should take over the job. He's got experience coaching this format and listening to him, he really seems to understand this format and seems to have the respect of the players.