Travis Head says Australia’s World Cup triumph in 2023 is the blueprint for how they will pull themselves out of the mire in Sri Lanka. He’s comparing apples with oranges.
Australia’s first major tournament since 2009 without the famous five of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc, David Warner and Steve Smith is on the precipice after the embarrassing defeat to Zimbabwe.
Glenn Maxwell is one of several Australia players out of form at the T20 World Cup.Credit: AP
If Mitch Marsh’s men can overcome their growing hurdles and lift the Twenty20 World Cup in just over three weeks’ time, it should go down as one of Australia’s greatest performances in a major tournament. Only the truest of true believers can see this happening.
Another loss to host nation Sri Lanka on early Tuesday morning (AEDT) would place them into “mathematically possible” territory. Only a decisive victory would inspire confidence they can make an impact later in the tournament. Right now, any win would do. They have lost their past four T20s against Test nations.
Australia have been in this position before. In the 2021 T20 World Cup, they were smashed by England and needed to win their final two group games by big margins to salvage a crushed net run rate to make the semis. In 2023, they recovered from two early defeats to win seven games to make the knockout stage.
“A few guys in that dressing room were here in India that navigated through [the ODI World Cup] and we ended up on the right side of it,” stand-in captain Head said after the loss on Friday. “So we’ll go back to the blueprint of that, try to keep as much confidence in the dressing room as possible and we’ve got two more games to win.”
There are major differences between then and now. The losses in 2023 came against high-class opponents in South Africa and India, the subsequent semi-finalists and finalists. This defeat came against the 11th-ranked Zimbabwe, who lost to Namibia and Uganda in failing to qualify for the 2024 tournament.
Their best players earn just over $250,000 from their board. Marcus Stoinis’ IPL contract of $2 million alone, without even mentioning the value of his Cricket Australia contract, would be worth more than the entire Zimbabwe XI.
Too many of Australia’s best players are battling injuries and form slumps. Only white-ball specialists Nathan Ellis and leggie Adam Zampa are at or near the top of their games.
No Australian cricket fan would sanely trade the Ashes for the T20 World Cup, but the seeds for this misadventure were sown while the main summer aim of retaining the urn was achieved.
Tim David is short of match practice.Credit: Getty Images
Tim David is short of match practice after straining his hamstring on Boxing Day. His first competitive knock since was a second-ball duck on Friday.
Glenn Maxwell is horribly out of form and has been for months. Any other player would already be dropped. His 31 off 32 balls drew more groans from him at mistimed shots than boundaries, but at least he got a start.
Hazlewood injured his Achilles tendon in early December and ran out of time to be fit. Cummins defied the odds to overcome his back issues for the Adelaide Test. Australian fans will roll their eyes if they are ready for the first game of the IPL.
Head is averaging 12.83 in 13 T20 internationals since the start of last year, though he showed in the Ashes he can flick from bust to boom overnight.
The one player who is in form after a red-hot BBL campaign – Steve Smith – was not picked in the squad. He was in transit to Sri Lanka during the game but is available to play the host nation should they add him to the 15.
There are sound reasons why selectors overlooked the batting great for this tournament. Smith has played his best as an opener, a position where Australia are strong with Marsh and Head, and Cameron Green deserved his place, having averaged 34 and struck at 153 last year while also offering a bowling option.
But the call to leave Smith out has come back to haunt Australia. Why it took so long for Cricket Australia to get him to Sri Lanka when concerns over Marsh’s testicle injury arose on Tuesday is another misstep in Cricket Australia’s recent handling of Smith, who was playing in the LIV Golf Pro Am in Adelaide on Wednesday.
While Marsh’s condition improved considerably on Friday for him to be in the gym, it would be a surprise if CA flew Smith all the way without playing him.
Australia had left a spot open after Hazlewood’s withdrawal in the belief they were sufficiently covered for the early games, but the time has come to fill it.
Their top order more resembled a pop gun than a cannon in the lead-up series in Pakistan and is still firing blanks, and their second-string attack is struggling to make early breakthroughs even if Matt Renshaw said the bowling was not to blame for the loss.
Both disciplines need strengthening, but Smith will help them more than Sean Abbott, the nominal seventh seamer in the pecking order.
If Stoinis is passed fit after a blow to the hand, Smith can open, thereby allowing wicketkeeper Josh Inglis to bat in the middle order where he is more comfortable.
Green would be vulnerable but his frustrating run in the Tests has continued into the shortest format. Selectors could also sacrifice seamer Ben Dwarshuis and rely on eight overs from all-rounders Stoinis, Green and Maxwell to support Ellis and spin twins Zampa and Matt Kuhnemann.
None of these scenarios are ideal but plans B, C and D rarely are.
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