Mike Atherton: Australia are almost unrecognisable at the Champions Trophy and are vulnerable to a strong England
No team can lose five first choice players and not be affected which is exactly the situation Australia finds itself in at the Champions Trophy. And, as Mike Atherton writes in The Times, they look vulnerable.
“I’ve seen the future and it looks much like the present, only longer,” quipped Dan Quisenberry, who, with his low-slung action, was the Lasith Malinga of baseball pitchers for the Kansas City Royals in the 1980s. Today (Saturday) in Lahore Australia will get a glimpse of the future as well, only - as far as their bowling unit is concerned - it won’t carry a familiar look at all.
Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc have helmed their country’s attack for so long now, and so successfully, it is hard to think of a time when the Kookaburra wasn’t in their capable hands. Across formats and in a variety of conditions, they have combined to take 1,692 international wickets and to put a stranglehold on opposition batsmen.
What a combination they have been: Starc with his booming inswingers (to the right-hander) and his penchant for bowling a full, attacking length; Hazlewood, sharp, consistent and miserly, owning the area around a batsman’s off stump, and Cummins, perhaps the best of them, combining both the attacking and defensive qualities of the other two with a yard of pace on both of them.
Now, for this Champions Trophy, all are missing. Cummins is recovering from an ankle injury, following a tough stint in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy; Hazelwood has yet to recover from a hip injury and Starc has requested time away for personal reasons. All are into their thirties now and while Australia hope they can combine for one final Ashes thrust next winter, their best days together are behind them.
Nor are they the only stalwarts missing. Having been named in the provisional squad, Marcus Stoinis announced his ODI retirement on the eve of the tournament, suddenly, and Mitchell Marsh has yet to recover from his injury problems. No team can lose five players of that experience and calibre and not be affected.
This is a good time to be playing them, then, especially for a group of batsmen, like England’s, in need of a pick-me-up. Their replacements are worthy enough: Sean Abbott, Nathan Ellis, Ben Dwarshuis and Spencer Johnson have done the rounds in county cricket and demand respect, but England’s batsmen will be eyeing some opportunities at a high-scoring venue.
These absences leaves their fidgety autodidact, Steve Smith, in charge of a reconstituted team. There remain dangerous elements, of course, not least Smith himself, back to somewhere near his best of late, but playing his first ODI in Pakistan, remarkably. As with Joe Root for England, Australia will be hoping that Smith stands out in a game where time allows the best players to stamp their class.
Travis Head, their no-nonsense attack dog at the top of the order, is feared, but will be challenged by the pace of Jofra Archer, Mark Wood and Brydon Carse early on. Adam Zampa lays claim to be as reliable a spinner as anyone in white-ball cricket, and Glenn Maxwell, who played one of the great 50-over innings in the 2023 World Cup - a double hundred against Afghanistan - demonstrated on that occasion that no shot is too outrageous, no cause ever lost.
But there are lots of questions too, around players like Matthew Short and Jake Fraser-McGurk, who have yet to crack international cricket. And the absence of three outstanding bowlers may well put more pressure on those batsmen. How will they know what a defendable score is now? While England were getting crushed in India, as part of their final preparations, Australia took a pounding in two ODIs in Sri Lanka as well. They look vulnerable.
England look stronger, not least now that injuries have abated. The key decision for Jos Buttler and Brendon McCullum was on the balance of the team, and whether to stack the batting, leaving Liam Livingstone and Root as the fifth bowler, or whether to play an extra bowling all-rounder, Jamie Overton or Gus Atkinson. Given the recent form of the latter pair, they have packed the batting, and that, surely, is the right choice. Whether, to paraphrase Eric Morecambe, they have got the right players but in the wrong order is more debatable. Jamie Smith is the real beneficiary of the balance of the side, taking the gloves from Phil Salt and a key place in the order at No 3. Smith, fine young player that he is, is also of a generation of young English talent whose knowledge of the 50-over game is limited.
He comes into his first global tournament on the back of only seven ODIs and precious little domestic 50-over cricket. His promotion is a measure of the high regard in which he is held, but also England’s somewhat disjointed preparation in India, with defeats and injuries the backdrop. That said, there was a noticeably upbeat feel about their final practice session yesterday (Friday) afternoon in the revamped Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
Compared with the opening match of the competition in Karachi, played on a slow turner, and the second game in Dubai, on an even slower turner, Lahore may offer the best batting conditions of the tournament so far, which should suit England - and Harry Brook, who returns to a country that has treated him so well. Since its recent facelift the ground is smaller in dimensions; the pitch yesterday (Friday) looked inviting, and the cool evenings may make dew a factor, and defending a total tricky.
‘It’s a strength’: Cummins’ verdict on under-fire Konstas
Test captain Pat Cummins has given his verdict on Sam Konstas, and feels the young star’s fearless mindset is a rare and precious commodity for Australian cricket.
The ‘death cult’ of Bazball is killing English cricket
As the Old Enemy prepares to face Australia in the Champions Trophy, they need to focus on proper cricket not propaganda.