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What would an Aussie cricket side for Los Angeles 2028 look like?

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18th August, 2021
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The International Cricket Council has announced that they will be submitting a bid to have cricket as an Olympic sport in Los Angeles, 2028.

Leaving the debate about whether or not cricket should even be in the Olympics (for the record, I am on the fence), the purpose of this article is to look at who might even make the Australian team.

There are a few assumptions that have been made in this article. Firstly, Twenty20 will be the format in the Olympics.

Secondly, all sides send their best possible teams over and that every player selected is in good form.

Thirdly, that there have to be extended squads selected due to the large number of matches played over a short space of time.

Finally, that the Olympic tournament will be open to the top 16 qualifying nations from all over the world (which is doubtful).

So, who makes the Australian side? Straight away, a large number of regular T20 players can be ruled out due to age.

These include Matthew Wade (40), Aaron Finch (41) David Warner (41), Mitchell Starc (38), Josh Hazlewood (37), James Pattinson (38), Moises Henriques (41), Marcus Stoinis (38), Nathan Coulter-Nile (41) and Glenn Maxwell (40).

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Who might be available or on the cusp because of age? They include: Steven Smith (39), D’Arcy Short (38), Daniel Sams (35), Pat Cummins (35), Peter Handscomb (37), Adam Zampa (36), Chris Lynn (38), Mitchell Marsh (36), Ashton Turner (35) and Alex Carey (36).

Players who are on the right side with age: Josh Philippe (31), Josh Inglis (33), Mitchell Swepson (34), Cameron Green (29), Marnus Labuschagne (34), Riley Meredith (32), Ashton Agar (34), Nathan Ellis (34), Ben McDermott (34) and Tanveer Sangha (26).

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This leaves plenty of players to select from and does not include the development of up-and-coming young players who may not even be in contention at this stage. Players like Jake Fraser-McGurk (26), Oliver Davies (27), Max Bryant (29) and Peter Hatzoglou (29) may be there or thereabouts in terms of selection for the side.

So, who is picked? Assuming a squad of 18, the following players should be in the side.

Josh Philippe (wk)
Ben McDermott
Marnus Labuschagne
Steve Smith
Cameron Green
Alex Carey
Jake Fraser-McGurk
Ashton Agar
Pat Cummins
Riley Meredith
Wes Agar

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Tanveer Sangha
Nathan Ellis
Mitchell Marsh
Ashton Turner
Max Bryant
Sam Harper
Xavier Bartlett

I acknowledge that I have probably omitted some names that should be included, and with many of the younger players, it is hard to forecast their futures seven years in advance. My locked-down brain has gone stir crazy.

Also, some of the players who I have ruled out due to age (players like Mitchell Starc and James Pattinson), if they are fit and firing, there could be a case for someone like Pattinson to play.

There could be another young player who, in the next seven years, takes the Twenty20 world by storm and becomes a shoo-in for selection.

Forecasting selection is tricky, and nobody knows where it might go, but here is my best shot at it.

Feel free to castigate or celebrate in the comments below.

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