Cricket World Cup: Australia’s selection woes, could captain Pat Cummins be dropped?
COMMENT: When Australia hastily made the captaincy call in the wake of Aaron Finch’s retirement last year, they may have backed themselves into a corner.
Australia’s World Cup destiny is likely to be shaped over its next three matches and the heat is rising on captain Pat Cummins to justify his place in the best XI.
Marcus Stoinis is set to push for a return from injury against South Africa on Thursday, possibly at the expense of fellow all-rounder Cameron Green.
But after Sunday’s emphatic opening match loss to India in Chennai, plenty are asking: how long Australia can persist with picking its three frontline quicks in subcontinental conditions?
With Mitchell Starc indispensable and Josh Hazlewood the No.2 ranked ODI bowler in the world behind India’s Mohammed Siraj, Cummins would appear the clear third seed in this format … except for the fact he’s skipper of the side.
Selectors could have mitigated this looming conundrum had they made Mitchell Marsh or Steve Smith World Cup captain, but when they made the captaincy call hastily last year following Aaron Finch’s retirement on the eve of the home T20 World Cup, Cummins’ undisputed strengths as a leader trumped all other factors.
And as it currently stands, Cummins deserved first crack.
With the glaring hole of not having a second frontline spinner in the squad, with Stoinis returning from a sore hamstring and Green hardly setting the world on fire with his form, it’s understandable why selectors have started the tournament with a proven champion, regardless what the format is.
But at some point in this World Cup, and possibly very soon, selectors will need to seriously debate whether Australia would achieve greater balance with an extra batting all-rounder or spinner in the XI instead of running with all three of the big quicks.
Certainly had spinner Ashton Agar not been withdrawn from the squad with injury on the eve of the tournament, he would have played the opening match in Chennai.
Whether that would have been in place of Green or Cummins – or Hazlewood as the unlucky fall guy – is the million dollar question.
If the fitness gamble on Travis Head is abandoned or if another injury in the squad opens the door for selectors to correct the current imbalance in the 15 and include a second frontline spinner, that’s when the selection debate will really catch fire.
Australia often talks about having a squad mentality and that the ODI leadership model is a lot more fluid than in Test match cricket: but would selectors be prepared to take that to the extreme of leaving the captain out of the best XI?
Speaking to this masthead before Australia even flew out for its pre-World Cup warm-up series in South Africa, Hazlewood said Cummins was the kind of selfless leader who, if circumstances required it, would sacrifice his place for the greater good of the team.
Not that Hazlewood thinks that will happen: he is adamant three quicks can win Australia the World Cup, just as it did when they proved all the doubters wrong to lift the T20 trophy in the UAE in 2020.
“When you’re trying to make up 20 or 25 overs with all-rounders then it can get away from you. A lot of the time the three quicks is our strongest team anyway,” Hazlewood said back in August before a ball was bowled.
“Apart from (Chennai), everywhere else, the bounce isn’t too bad in Bangalore, Mumbai and up north. Conditions change so much. It’s definitely not all spin. It’s a lot different to the Test matches.
“… (But) I think if it’s clear cut and Starcy and I are bowling the house down and Pat’s not quite up to his 100 per cent, then I’m sure he’ll be happy to see the writing on the wall a bit and put himself out of the team and Smith or Marsh can take the lead for one game here or there if conditions don’t quite suit (three quicks).
“At the same time, Pat could be bowling the house down and Mitch and I might not be bowling well.
“T20 and one-day cricket is a bit of a different beast and … I don’t think the captaincy automatically selects you in the team. Whereas in the Test team he’s probably well above (Starc and I) in regards to his record and how he bowls and he’s phenomenal in the Test arena.”
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