Craddock: Strike rate concerns give Smith uphill task to win World Cup selection
Australia knows World Cups are won by big names, but it’s getting harder to see how arguably Australia’s biggest name gets to the T20 World Cup later this year, writes Robert Craddock.
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The problem for Steve Smith’s Australian T20 career is that his game has been lacking crunch at a time when teammates and rivals seem to be growing muscles.
That’s one of the reasons why his prospects of making cricket’s T20 World Cup in the United States and Caribbean in June are hanging on by a quivering thread after his dismissal, caught behind for four after opening, against New Zealand at Auckland on Sunday.
With an international strike rate of just 116 runs per 100 balls since mid-2020, as revealed by Fox Cricket, Smith is lagging behind most of his dam-busting top order mates who have soared into the 140s-50s and 60s in the same period.
There was a time when being the prince of placement and a hustler extraordinaire with the occasional big hit thrown in was enough to earn Smith million dollar deals in the IPL and a permanent place in the national T20 scene. Now you need a bit more.
Magnum force is greater than it’s ever been in T20 cricket. The muscle men are getting stronger and braver.
Where once teams used to rely on and anchorman now there is a feeling they often just get in the road.
Smith would have known his next stop after being given the chance to open the innings in this series was out of the side if he didn’t perform.
As Mitchell Johnson said in his Sunday column, opener is now the only spot Smith can bat in the current Australian team given the firepower stacked beneath him in the order.
That said, Smith’s World Cup chances are not totally cooked.
When the selectors pick the team they will consider three points in his favour … the slow decks of the Caribbean may suit Smith’s style, big tournaments are won by heavy duty players, and there’s the simple fact he is one of Australia’s best players since Bradman.
But to make the plane to the Caribbean he must win a brutal numbers game and the odds against him are imposing.
When all the numbers are crunched he will likely duel with Matt Short and Marcus Stoinis for two spots given David Warner and Travis Head should open the innings.
Short’s blistering 27 off 11 balls in Auckland was a timely snapshot of his power and poise and while Stoinis’ form has not been great he can also bowl and is an experienced T20 player.
Significantly, Stoinis and most of the Australian top order will soon head to India to have potentially 14 IPL games against the world’s top players to get them ready for the World Cup.
Smith, it appears, is unlikely to play the IPL so he won’t have that luxury of being match hardened.
Throughout his career a challenge has often brought the best out of him – but it’s far from certain the selectors will give him the chance he craves.
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Originally published as Craddock: Strike rate concerns give Smith uphill task to win World Cup selection
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