Australia’s chances of winning the World Cup took a huge dent with their first-up loss to India but that’s not where their troubles end.
Just like the Test team, the men’s ODI squad is ageing (by the day in the harsh Indian sun) and there is a distinct lack of players who have shown they can take over as the majority of the side fade into retirement.
David Warner has one foot out the retirement door, Steve Smith won’t be too far behind him in the 50-over format at least, while nine other members of this 15-man World Cup squad are in their 30s.
Injured opener Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne, who are 29, back-up keeper Josh Inglis (28) and Cameron Green (24) are the only players who aren’t in the veteran category.
And while Head has shown over the past 12 months that he can be an ODI star, Labuschagne is clearly not suited to bash and barge cricket, Inglis is very much unproven at this level while Green’s not having much of an impact.
Other players who have filled in for the Australians in recent matches have shown promise but nobody has produced the results or had enough of a chance to prove they can take over when Mitchell Starc, Glenn Maxwell, Josh Hazlewood, Stoinis and Zampa retire from the white-ball arena or get tapped by the selectors.
There is talent out there among the likes of Tanveer Sangha, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Aaron Hardie, Matt Short, Ashton Turner and Lance Morris but there’s going to be some tough sledding ahead for Australia after this World Cup as they get thrown into the deep end pretty much all at once with little experience under their belt.
The Australians looked like a tired team in their six-wicket thumping at the hands of India. Same batters struggling in turning conditions on India’s spinning tracks – it’s a movie the Australian cricket fan has seen on repeat.
It appears Green is being spread way too thin between his Indian Premier League commitments and being an all-rounder in all three national teams, resulting in a pale imitation of what he’s capable of achieving.
There’s no questioning his talent or potential but he’s yet to lock down a role that suits him in either white-ball format.
Batting at No.7 is too low because, like Steve Smith, Labuschagne and Alex Carey ahead of him in the order, he prefers to have more than a few overs to find his feet before stepping on the accelerator.
His innings in the World Cup opener against India was typical of what we’ve seen from him on several occasions in the past 12 months where his steady approach can be an albatross to the team’s innings if he doesn’t convert the start into a decent total.
Alex Carey. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
Green had plenty of time to bat at Chennai but he’s too unsure of himself when facing the spinners from the get-go.
He fell in the 37th over, just a few balls after Maxwell had departed, unsure of whether to attack or defend and doing nothing but spooning an easy catch to backward point for a measly eight from the 20th delivery he faced.
On batting alone, Green has endured a lean run in 2023 with a Test average of 29.88 inflated by his breakthrough hundred on the Ahmedabad featherbed while in ODIs, he’s managing just 16.16 at a cumbersome 66.43 strike rate.
Green either needs to be up the order or out of the team. Fellow all-rounders Marcus Stoinis and Sean Abbott are better suited to the lower-order hitting role from ball one.
With Head out with his broken finger, the Aussies were short a hitter in their batting unit but it was actually the right kind of line-up for the tricky pitch they encountered.
But Warner, Smith, Labuschagne and Maxwell all failed to convert starts into anything significant.
And even when Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood ripped through the top order to reduce India to 3-2, they didn’t hold the upper hand for long after Mitchell Marsh’s costly dropped catch off Virat Kohli.
Mitchell Marsh drops a catch to spare Virat Kohli. (Photo by Matthew Lewis-ICC/ICC via Getty Images)
With only one frontline spinner, the Australians lack both the containment and wicket-taking ability that India enjoyed by having Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja wheeling away through the middle overs.
It’s only one loss and in this World Cup format where teams have nine games to reach the semis, it’s not a total disaster for Australia like their first-up caning to New Zealand in the T20 tournament on home soil last summer.
But it’s difficult to see this Australian side competing with teams that have a variety of top-quality spin options or power hitters in the middle order.
And after losing their last three matches in South Africa last month, they need a dramatic form reversal to break their World Cup duck against the Proteas in Lucknow on Thursday.
While the ICC is in charge of pitches in this tournament, this is another renowned turning wicket and even if they tried to make it into a pitch that didn’t favour spin, it wouldn’t work.
Adam Zampa and Maxwell were ineffective against India while South Africa are likely to bring in wrist-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi – their leading ODI wicket-taker in recent years – to complement the orthodox spin of fellow left-armer Keshav Maharaj.
(Photo by Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images/Getty Images)
And there’s also the small matter for the Australian bowlers of stopping the Proteas’ power hitters with Quinton de Kock (100 off 84), Rassie van der Dussen (108 off 110) and Aiden Markram (106 off 54) destroying Sri Lanka’s bowlers as they amassed 5-428 to kick off their campaign.
With Heinrich Klaasen, who clubbed the Aussies for 174 recently at Centurion, David Miller and Marco Jansen, the South Africans have the most potent batting firepower in the tournament.
Unless the lesser-ranked sides of Afghanistan, the Netherlands and Bangladesh cause upsets, the race for the semis is a seven-way contest between the established Test-playing nations.
That means the Aussies will almost be in a must-win situation if they again go down to South Africa or at the very least in a scenario where they’d have to win six of their final seven pool games.
Head is likely to miss at least the next three matches and by the time his broken hand is ready for action, it could be too late.
The Knightwatchmen who say Nii
Roar Rookie
To win their first ever world cup?
Blink
Roar Rookie
Behrendorff is more highly rated in IPL, RG Bangalore than he is here. Guys like him shouldn't bother with Australia anymore. They've done their bit. Now just capitalise on your ability. Bowling 4 overs for a quick, means they will last longer than say bowling 12 overs like in Shield, Test etc. Also Tim David should opt out of ODI if he is allowed to. Guys like him are totally geared to T20, which is where the money, fame and fortune are. This looking after your country media nonsense has never worked for a single player though they spout the same nonsense as each other (they're lying).
langparker
Roar Rookie
You may be right about India having more emerging talent than Australia Blink but you can’t pick all of them, hence the age old problem where test, ODI & T20 international incumbents hang on to their spots for grim death because it’s a very well paid job. In the past in Australia for example we had great batsmen like Stuart Law, a genuine hard nut as a competitor, who only got 1 test innings because the test team was settled. How many times have we heard test cricketers say their out-of-form teammate ‘was hitting them well in the nets’ or ‘is due for a big innings anytime soon’, they all stick solid.
The Bush
Roar Guru
it’s an interesting conundrum, caused I guess at its core by there being no space or appetite for 50-over franchises? I feel it's at least heightened by the fact that the calendar is now a complete mess. You just throw in random three game series whenever you can. As a result, you don't have access to your best players and this leads to strange line ups. But that excuse doesn't ring true for the last few months when the focus has clearly been on ODI cricket. I'd actually forgotten Stoinis, but he's a classic example of how bad the selectors are. He has lived the most charmed career in ODI cricket that I can imagine. I can accept, to some small degree, why he was there in 2019; we needed lower order hitting and that magical innings from 2016(17?) was still fresh in peoples minds. But to average under 20 for four years and still be in the line up is complete and utter madness. I'm a little bit more forgiving with the line up from 2019; there's always a hangover after you win a cup (15) and our two best batsmen had been banned for a year in the lead up. It was also a transition period during which ODI cricket was being sidelined. But after the disappointment of that campaign, we should have gone back to the drawing board. Instead, we're here talking about the same old players, making the same mistakes or even worse ones. It's a testament to how good Australia is at ODI cricket, that despite a poor squad, poor selection for years and other issues, we were still number 1 a few weeks ago and still one of the favourites to win. This version must just be in our DNA.
langparker
Roar Rookie
Is it time to acknowledge that the Cameron Green hysteria is a latter version of the Shane Watson experiment imposed on Aussie cricket fans and we all know that ended in disappointment when the chips were down. As a Queensland cricket tragic, I wasted years hoping Watson would live up to his early potential as he moved around first class teams in the shield & one day competitions, only to fluff his lines when needed. Green is in danger of following suit, looks a million bucks but outside of WA, hasn’t lived up to the hype. Loved what he could do when he first burst onto the scene but his match turning efforts have been sparse & he has a tendency to bowl pies to sloggers as evidenced in the ashes tests. With a recalled Mitch Marsh (who isn’t often fit to bowl) and Green as out go to all-rounders, Michael Neser must be wondering how many centuries he has to score to get a look in at international level. Reeled off another one recently against NSW but seems his efforts mean nothing to those dud selectors led by a mediocre cricketer in Bailey.
Wikipetia
Roar Rookie
great analysis it's an interesting conundrum, caused I guess at its core by there being no space or appetite for 50-over franchises? ii always thought we used 2019 as an Ashes warmup (Khawaja at 3, Lyon and Wade in the squad, warner batting time to find form(!!) etc). Warner Smith Khawaja and Stoinis all going at under 90 but Langer thought Maxwell should have performed routine miracles yet we finished second on the table. mostly due to Carey and Starc. we did get found out by England pretty badly in the semi. but we did OK and reaped some Ashes benefit - mostly in terms of Smith. but it was a funny team, Haze out so Krich and Behrendorf and Coulter-Nile all in. two spinners. Handscomb as sub for Smarsh etc we may look back in 4 years and think the same thing. a good not great team having a good not great tournament but... back to your point... 7 new players from 2019 - but most lucky to squeeze in eg Marnus. Inglis unlikely to play. Mitchy not really new. the bowling attack all well over 30. everyone other than Green over 28. no wonder he looks lonely every now and then. get him at least one mate in there. preferably two. Greg Chappell suffered a bit from having no real peers (as well as being peerless). Green and Hardie, 6 months apart, build the future around the two of them.
The Bush
Roar Guru
I have generally supported the overall selection approach to the test team since Lehmann was shown the door. Yes there have still been plenty of weird selections and the backing of Warner has been infuriating, but mostly, the team has been the best we can put out there. But in white ball cricket, I think they've gotten it wrong and haven't been building these teams well at all. We basically fluked a world cup win in T20 cricket back in 2021. Beyond this, we've been a pretty average side in the version for a long time and are again. There is no real vision for this side at all. On the ODI front, I don't think it's as drastic, but I still think they could have done better. I'll preface this by saying if Head and Agar were fit and in the team, then that would have papered over the cracks we're seeing now. But in short: 1. They've failed to build depth in the spinning department. After Zampa it's daylight and having now lost Agar, we can see how bare the cupboard is and it shouldn't be, other's should have been trialled; and 2. We've failed to bring through middle order hitters, meaning we're entirely reliant on our top order or Maxwell magic; They don't play as much ODI cricket as they used to, so there is less time to get it right, but the selectors seem to have really stuffed around. The constant shuffling of the batting order has been maddening, including: 1. Moving Carey around. He's been in the team for five years, mainly at number 7. Either he's doing the job you need there or he's not and he should be dropped, why are you suddenly moving him up the order? 2. Moving Green around. I could be wrong and I welcome Don's input, but Green is not a lower order hitter. He doesn't have a background of doing this for WA and the brief success he has had in white ball cricket seems to be at opener or otherwise up the order. So stop trying to fit a square peg into a round hole; 3. Same with the oddness of doing things like dropping Ingliss in at different batting positions and the same with Labuschagne. Basically, the leadership structure and selectors seem to have no idea of what their vision is for the side; do we have to traditional batsmen at 3 and 4 or just 1? Do we have hitters from 5 onwards or not? Should we be batting deep (I remember games where Green was at 8 for some unknowable reason) or do we back a strong-ish top 7? This is so disappointing because England showed in 2019 that if you have a clear vision and method, you're far more likely to succeed. So instead of having an idea of your preferred XI players and trying to shoehorn them in, even if that means not having what you need and having too much of the same thing, you should have an idea of the XI types of players you want and you then select accordingly.
Wikipetia
Roar Rookie
It’s fascinating that the AFL is going the other way, seasoned bodies and minds etc I guess there is just a bit of same old same old, it’d be 12+ years since the core of this team debuted one way or another (smith Maxwell starc haze etc all played U-19s against each other too)
Ed Flanders
Roar Rookie
All the more reason why he isn't a selector then. I'm not for why people seem to insist he is
Just Nuisance
Roar Rookie
ODI World Cup matches between Aus and SA have seldom failed to deliver on drama.. I don't buy the "tired" suggestion at all. The Australians will be up for this match ....Its still a very good team on paper .I'm hoping though India does us South Africans a favour and give us a nice turning wicket . We definetely have the edge in the spin dept.
The Bush
Roar Guru
And then he jettisoned poor old Renshaw before the 2017-18 Ashes... It's a tricky thing bringing in youth and rejuvenating a team. If we'd actually won the last Ashes (which seemed almost a forgone conclusion when we were two up), we'd probably all be sitting here saying that this was something of a 'golden generation' and that they deserve a final shot at this world cup. But my impression is we are all feeling a bit jaded with how it ended in England and so we've somewhat turned on the team a little, because honestly, who are these older players that we should have cut years ago? Warner in tests yes, but he's stayed great in ODI cricket. Smith had an amazing turn around in the format in recent years and the quicks have remained really good. People forget; we were No 1 in ODIs only a few weeks ago and but for forfeits in the Super League, we probably would have topped the table.
Wikipetia
Roar Rookie
it's actually pretty common, a lot of guys who got a hail mary on potential when young miraculously expect 15 years later someone has to do a Hookes 77 to get past them and into the team. the old "breaking down the door, even though I didn't have to." that's why we have selectors. with memories. I hope.
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
Marnus is a driven, mercurial and erratic character. I think he needs that focus.
Wikipetia
Roar Rookie
yes Renshaw was the single attempt to bring in a young batter. many more Doolan type selections. sadly/
Wikipetia
Roar Rookie
Green has enough pace and bounce to be a topline quick - but only if he can specialise in it... and get some topline quick overs and opportunities - unlikely under this leadership/with this attack FWIW Watto bowled 145 when he was young but he had to stop both for physical reasons and training load for allrounders. his late 2000s 135km/h seam and swing was more useful as a 5th bowler, at least under Ponting, who knew he had a golden arm (Clarke wanted two Siddles so ground Watto into the dust)
13th Man
Roar Rookie
Agreed - I’d send him home to play some shield (and replace him in the squad with either Hardie or Turner) then back him in for the entire test summer to bat at 6. Given who we are playing it’s the perfect opportunity for him to build confidence in the red ball game - which is where I see his best cricket being played. Worst thing that’s happened to him (well maybe not for his bank account) was IPL sitting up and taking notice - everyone is trying to turn him into something he isn’t.
13th Man
Roar Rookie
There is merit in this - before the T20 World Cup last year the Indian side played their entire first choice XI in a Warm up match against a Western Australian XI and lost. That side included the likes of Behrendorff, Hardie and Cooper Connolly.
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
He ambushed you
Just Nuisance
Roar Rookie
Stop spoiling my fun ... :silly:
Chanon
Roar Rookie
Why not just replace the Aussie team with the WA team seems the logical choice.