How Australia veered off course in stuttering World Cup defence

It said a lot about the untidy nature of Australia’s Twenty20 World Cup defence that Glenn Maxwell admitted he found himself trying to “safe slog” with minimal risk during a game in which the hosts were meant to be going all out for net run rate.

If the Australian men’s Twenty20 side has got itself into a position where Maxwell of all people is having to think about playing safe, then there can be little doubt this is a campaign that has veered off course.

Maxwell felt that way because the Adelaide Oval surface was an equitable cricket pitch rather than a road, because Afghanistan bowled death overs of high quality, and because by being demoted to No.6 he had less batting behind him than before.

A similar conglomeration of factors had pushed Australia into this corner. One in which it is certain the team will face plenty of criticism from the lobby that raged against Justin Langer’s exit earlier this year after he declined the option to coach at this event.

Heavy defeat to New Zealand in the opening game meant there was no margin for further Australian error; a washout against England took things into the realm of obscure mathematical calculation; and a narrow win over Afghanistan took destiny entirely out of the hands of the team that, prior to a hamstring strain, had been led by Aaron Finch.

Maxwell was frank enough to recall that, after a hefty loss to England in the group stage a year ago, Australia had put a series of complete displays together. Though losing the same number of matches, they have been more elusive this time around.

Glenn Maxwell made his highest T20 score for Australia since March 2021.Credit: Getty Images

“We haven’t put the complete game together,” Maxwell reflected. “There were a couple of games last year during the World Cup where we probably did. Bangladesh, West Indies and Sri Lanka we played the complete game, almost back-to-back, they were clinical performances, we did the game quickly, and we were pretty sharp in all areas.

“We’ve missed a few opportunities this year, I feel like batters have got starts and haven’t gone big, I don’t think we’ve got any batters in the top five or 10 run scorers, we haven’t got the high wicket takers either, it feels like we’ve just been chipping away here and there.

“For us the frustration is it would’ve been nice to play that game against England and showcase where we think we are as a team and if you lose that you can wear it that you’ve missed out on finals ... and if you win that you put yourself in good stead. Starting the first game of the tournament not that well probably hurt us as well.“

Mystery still surrounds the flatness of Australia’s display against New Zealand, met head-on by Finn Allen and unable to respond quickly enough. Maxwell also sounded puzzled, given how long he felt the team had been hanging out for the World Cup proper to begin.

Australia have missed opportunities throughout the World Cup. Credit: Getty

“We were so excited to get the tournament under way, it was the longest lead-in we’ve ever had, 15 games in all sorts of places and some pretty average conditions,” he said. “Once that 15th game was finished against India at the Gabba, the feeling was almost a sigh of relief, and now we can start our tournament.

“We were fresh, pumped up and ready to go, and they just had a player who was better on the day, and that can happen. The opposition has a say in things, and pretty much everything we did they counteracted in those first four overs and that can be all it takes in a T20 game.

“The disappointment is we haven’t been able to show how we feel like we’re playing as a group and tonight was a good opportunity to have that perfect game and ... maybe we should’ve sent Finchy out for the toss instead of Wadey, who knows. We’ve missed the big moments too many times.”

Finch, who left himself out of the side as he could still feel a hamstring strain suffered against Ireland, was one of three changes alongside Tim David, also injured, and the omitted Mitchell Starc.

There will be plenty of postmortems and hindsight judgments to come, but Maxwell balanced admiration for Finch’s decision with a sense that the cricket caravan did not allow much time for navel-gazing anyway.

“You can’t dwell on it,” Maxwell said. “You move on pretty quickly, we’ve got a one-day series against England, then the BBL, then four-day cricket. Cricket never stops, so you don’t get time to dwell. There’s no point in dwelling on it, it’s ‘Oh well, wish we’d have won, but we didn’t’.”

Champions in 2021 in the UAE but likely to be eliminated at home in 2022, Australia’s Twenty20 side will have to face up to the reality that this is something like starring off-Broadway and then fluffing your lines on national television.

News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.