T20 World Cup 2022: Australia surrenders its white ball aura with Mitchell Starc selection snub

It was wrong to judge Aaron Finch on his batting alone, according to one Australian selector who says the captain’s role in the T20 World Cup team was misunderstood.

George Bailey has defended Australia’s decision to back in Aaron Finch for the Twenty20 World Cup, labelling criticism of the captain as “confused.”

The national selector said Finch’s form issues had been largely misrepresented because his struggles in the 50-over format had been used to fuel a narrative that he was a spent force in Twenty20 cricket as well.

Regardless, Bailey said it was wrong for Finch to be judged on batting alone, adamant the importance of his leadership credentials to the T20 team were grossly underplayed by those calling for his head.

Australia’s abject capitulation against New Zealand in the opening game of the World Cup prompted calls for Steve Smith to be instilled as an anchor man, but Bailey believes Finch performed that role admirably throughout the tournament without being given the recognition for the job he was doing.

“I think a lot of people were getting a little confused with one-day cricket and T20 cricket and there’s a little bit of a difference there. You can all go back at those things as you see fit,” said Bailey on Tuesday at the announcement of Australia’s summer ODI and Test squads.

“But the flip side argument being that a lot of teams have had someone who played a bit of an anchor role and that seems to have been spruiked as a reason that other teams are having success. Finchy was almost morphing into that type of player for us a little bit.

“And I think his record held up pretty well through the tournament.

“I do think a lot of people don’t understand … they just were judging the batsmanship and not the actual overall leadership and captaincy package and potential disruption that could have if you shift that late into a tournament.

“I think he played well. And I think now he’s bought himself some time as to make up his mind and see what he wants to do in the future.”

Australian captain Aaron Finch was under pressure to hold his spot in the team. Picture: Patrick Hamilton

Trapped by the unusual scenario of being asked to defend their World Cup trophy 12 months after winning it, selectors locked in 14 of the same champion 15 from 2021, with Tim David the only fresh blood.

After a theme of loyalty and stability through the tournament, Mitchell Starc was dumped for the final pool game against Afghanistan due to concerns over Australia’s death bowling.

It has sparked questions over whether Australia paid the price for not reinvigorating its ageing playing group with more new faces for this World Cup.

“The two most controversial things out of that seemed to have been with hindsight, that Steve Smith wasn’t playing so that was a change, and that Mitchell Starc was left out of the last game,” said Bailey.

“So there were two changes.

“Outside of that, I think you certainly go into a T20 World Cup with a view to what your best team is and when you are given four opportunities to have a look at what that looks like, I’m not sure how much that’s going to shift from a form perspective, but it might shift on a tactical basis.

“I think there was reasonable proximity between the two World Cups, clearly through our age demographic, it’s a pretty experienced team, so I think you can only dwell on that with hindsight and unfortunately we are not in the position to be able to deal with that.”

Steve Smith played one match in the World Cup. Picture: Patrick Hamilton / AFP

Bailey said the controversial decision to omit Starc was based on a tactical response to bringing all-rounder Cameron Green into the bowling mix.

“It was a little bit around the death bowling, due to the fact that we were bringing Cam Green in who we feel can do a really good job through the middle, and I think he did the other night,” Bailey said.

“And it was about attacking a bit earlier and that meant that we’ve been pretty consistent with using Patty (Cummins) and Josh (Hazlewood) through the power play. And we were going to look to use them a little earlier to push through the middle with Zamps (Adam Zampa).

“It was very much a tactical decision. It was a match-up decision … just to be clear, just because someone isn’t in an XI doesn’t mean we don’t think that they’re a good player.”

Australia surrenders white ball aura with Starc axing

– Robert Craddock

Australia has lost just one match in this World Cup. It feels like more.

Australian fans celebrated as the home side pipped a plucky Afghanistan in yet another sensational World Cup finish at the Adelaide Oval.

Australia were hoping to restrict them to under 106 to lift their run rate above England but there was never a chance of that.

Australia now needs Sri Lanka to beat England on Saturday night at the SCG otherwise the home nation will surrender its title as world champions by failing to make the semi-finals.

Already it has surrendered its white ball aura.

Like Ireland in the previous game, Afghanistan may have been beaten but they were never overawed. Even as Australia struggled to get on top, world cricket fans luxuriated in the sight of another emerging nation playing without fear and plenty of flamboyance to rattle one of the big boys.

If Australia makes an early exit there will be no tears or excuses. Australia has had some useful performances but has not really had a standout player and never really clicked.

Mitchell Starc was left out of Australia’s side that played Afghanistan. Picture: Patrick Hamilton/AFP

On a night where Australia was asked to do something outlandish it was a surprise to see them leave out it’s most outlandish bowler.

Bill “Tiger’’ O’Reilly, the late, great leg-spinner from the Bradman era, would have rolled in his grave at news of the omission of white ball star Mitchell Starc, not that the great man ever saw a game of T20 cricket.

Tiger had a theory – supported by bowlers of most eras – that bowlers were often dropped by selectors far quicker than batsmen and his thoughts on Starc being dropped after the patience showed to Aaron Finch would no doubt have been typically strident.

Starc stands as one of Australia’s greatest white ball bowlers of all time. No matter what his recent form says, he was unlucky, especially as his absence meant sending an undercooked Kane Richardson out to try and raise a sinking ship.

Cricviz analyst Ben Jones sensed Starc’s position in the side was vulnerable after he did a mid-tournament deep dive into his performances over the past few years.

Kane Richardson was called in for Starc. Picture: Sarah Reed/Getty

It’s not as if Starc was going poorly – but just lacking his world class snap and crackle.

Cricviz revealed that since the start of 2021 Starc has bagged just four Powerplay wickets in 22 innings and his average speed this year – 140kph – was his lowest for a decade.

This suggests he has not been the robust enforcer with a reputation for rattling teams with an irresistible cocktail of pace and swing.

That being the case he was shunted to the middle overs in recent overs where he could muscle up with reasonable pace and bounce.

Normally when a big time player is dropped the critics are calling for it long before the selectors make a move. Rarely does it sneak up on you. This one did.

If Australia make the semi-finals it would be a surprise if Starc is not recalled on his home ground.

World Cups are won by heavy duty players who tend to rise for big moments – no matter what their recent statistics say.