T20 Cricket World Cup: Cameron Green experiment may come to nothing as pressure grows on Glenn Maxwell
The Cameron Green project has been shelved and may only resurface through injury, as the Aussies look to address a more pressing issue elsewhere.
Australia’s bold Cameron Green experiment may come to nothing, with Ashton Agar passed fit to plough on into next week’s World Cup as part of an unchanged squad.
Specialist left-arm spinner Agar has received the green light from medical staff after fully recovering from a minor side strain and may play in one of Australia’s remaining practice games — more likely against India on Monday.
Gun all-rounder Green played the opening four Cup warm-up games as an opening batsman at the expense of captain Aaron Finch, who shifted down the order.
It could still pay dividends down the track, but for all the contingency planning, Green won’t come in as a replacement unless an injury occurs during the tournament, as Australia prepares for next week’s opener against New Zealand with 15 fit players to choose from.
Having successfully managed the recoveries of four underdone stars, Australian selectors have now had those fitness fears replaced by concerns over Glenn Maxwell’s form.
Maxwell is a very difficult player to drop given his game-breaking potential and the unique balance he brings to the side as the second spinner and fielding gun, but Australia desperately needs him to find form with the bat in Friday night’s final T20I against England in Canberra.
David Warner’s sore neck is not serious and is available to back-up on Friday, but Australia is yet to lock in an XI as selectors weigh up the merits of giving reserve batsmen Steve Smith and Josh Inglis a hit, and when to slot Agar into the attack for a trundle.
Finch has made some decent scores including a half century against the West Indies, but is still getting out in frustrating ways and only time will tell whether the contentious plan to not open him for half the practice games impacts the captain’s preparation.
Australian star Josh Hazlewood admits the six-game build-up against the Windies, England and India is almost proving too long.
“We’re probably ready to go I think and we’re just in a holding pattern now for another two games before we start,” Hazlewood said. “It feels that way in the camp.”
Maxwell won’t be asked to modify his take-no-prisoners batting style despite his run of low scores.
Batting at the crucial No.4 position and with big bombers Mitchell Marsh, Marcus Stoinis and Tim David surrounding him in the order, and no Smith in the line-up, commentators have suggested the out of form Maxwell should put some shots away and focus instead on manipulating the field when he first comes to the crease.
Maxwell has made just 108 runs from his past 11 white ball innings, including T20 scores of 1, 0, 6, 0, 1 and 8, with former Test selector Mark Waugh questioning on Fox Cricket whether the x-factor can continue to be considered a lock in the team without contributing runs.
However, Hazlewood declared Maxwell an indispensable figure, and doesn’t want him to change his mindset of playing what he sees.
“You don’t want him going away from his natural instinct either. He’s a player who just reacts to what’s coming and plays his game,” Hazlewood said.
“And that’s the one thing you want from Glenn all the time.
“Having that depth of batters (Marsh, Stoinis and David) adds to that. He can just go out and play his game.
“Whether it’s in the first six overs or outside that against spin where he’s in particular, pretty destructive. (You want him to have that) free mindset and just play his game.
“I’ve played a lot with Glenn lately, particularly at RCB (in the IPL) and the Australian team. All three aspects of the game he’s outstanding and he’s just that close to winning a game for us off his own bat or with the ball in the field. He’s a key part of our team and just (gives us) that balance beautifully I think.”
Hazlewood said the unusual presence of Smith on the sidelines and not in the best XI, was creating a healthy sense of pressure and confidence amongst the batting unit.
“He’s been fantastic around the group, he’s still working really hard and putting pressure on the batters,” Hazlewood said.
“I know the top seven walk out and see Steve Smith on the bench and it puts you in a pretty good position of where you’re at as a team and the depth you have, sitting a guy like him down.”
Big Show’s natural game backed in for World Cup
Glenn Maxwell won’t be asked to modify his bold batting style despite a run of low scores beginning to mount ahead of the World Cup.
Batting at the crucial No.4 position and with big bombers Mitchell Marsh, Marcus Stoinis and Tim David surrounding him in the order and no Steve Smith in the line-up, commentators have suggested the out of form Maxwell should put some shots away and focus instead on manipulating the field when he first comes to the crease.
Maxwell has made just 108 runs from his past 11 white ball innings, including T20 scores of 1, 0, 6, 0, 1 and 8, with former Test selector Mark Waugh questioning on Fox Cricket whether the x-factor can continue to be considered a lock in the team without contributing runs.
However, Australia have declared Maxwell an indispensable figure given his bowling and fielding attributes, and don’t want him to change his mindset of playing what he sees.
“You don’t want him going away from his natural instinct either. He’s a player who just reacts to what’s coming and plays his game,” said Josh Hazlewood.
“And that’s the one thing you want from Glenn all the time.
“Having that depth of batters (Marsh, Stoinis and David) adds to that. He can just go out and play his game.
“Whether it’s in the first six overs or outside that against spin where he’s in particular, pretty destructive. (You want him to have that) free mindset and just play his game.
“I’ve played a lot with Glenn lately, particularly at RCB (in the IPL) and the Australian team. All three aspects of the game he’s outstanding and he’s just that close to winning a game for us off his own bat or with the ball in the field. He’s a key part of our team and just (gives us) that balance beautifully I think.”
Hazlewood said the unusual presence of Smith on the sidelines and not in the best XI, was creating a healthy sense of pressure and confidence amongst the batting unit.
“He’s been fantastic around the group, he’s still working really hard and putting pressure on the batters,” said Hazlewood.
“I know the top seven walk out and see Steve Smith on the bench and it puts you in a pretty good position of where you’re at as a team and the depth you have, sitting a guy like him down.”
Australia changed up its bowling plans in Wednesday’s second loss to England, with Mitchell Starc kept away from the new ball for only the second time in T20 cricket, and the first since 2014.
Hazlewood said targeting England openers Jos Buttler and Alex Hales with himself and Pat Cummins was a deliberate tactic.
“It’s about match ups and we have meetings about that and talk about that,” said Hazlewood.
“That’s where we landed last night. It might be something moving forward against different teams, it just depends what the numbers say and how we match up.”
Starc said his most likely role will be to bowl one over with the new ball, two in the middle and one at the death – but that could change based on individual match-ups during the World Cup.
“Over the last few years it’s probably changed from two in the power play and two at the death to one in the power play, two in the middle and one at the death,” said Starc.
“Between the five guys that normally bowl the majority, we can all play different roles against different match ups. I think that’s a strength of ours and we didn’t quite get it right in these two occasions but I think it leaves us in a good position for the World Cup having tried it now in competitive fixtures.”
Heat intensifies on ‘alarming’ Maxi as x-factor fires
Pressure is growing on faltering Australian star Glenn Maxwell to fire as England asserted themselves as World Cup favourites in Canberra.
Australian enforcers Mitchell Marsh (45 off 29) and Tim David (40 off 23) both gave the home side more reason for optimism than concern given the bigger picture of a Cup defence, but it wasn’t enough to stop an ominously impressive England wrapping up a 2-0 series triumph.
Pat Cummins slaughtered a six off the first ball of the last over to give Australia some hope with 16 needed off 5, but England finished convincing eight-run winners thanks to the brilliant bowling and hustle of Sam Curran who got rid of danger trio Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis (22) and David.
Former selector Mark Waugh has questioned whether Maxwell can continue to be a lock in Australia’s World Cup team if he isn’t able to arrest an alarming form slump batting out of the crucial No.4 position.
“It’s a real worry for Maxwell’s form leading into this World Cup,” Waugh said on Fox Cricket.
“Maybe he’s not a lock in the team. (You) would have thought he would be, given the way he fields and his bowling.
“But he’s there to bat at No.4 primarily. (It’ll be) interesting to see what happens going forward there.”
In the end it was poor catching from Australia which proved the difference – putting four down in total – in what was otherwise another high-quality encounter between two sides who could well meet in the World Cup final at the MCG in a month’s time.
David threatened to turn the match in Australia’s favour in the 17th over when he smashed four and six of Chris Jordan, before Curran returned to clean up the Singapore Slugger’s leg-stump with a superb Yorker under pressure.
Maxwell has made just 108 runs across his past 11 white ball innings this summer, with another meek departure in failing to handle a short ball from Curran.
The x-factor’s sublime fielding ability and contributions with the ball makes him very hard leave out of any T20 XI, but a run of 1, 0, 6, 0, 1 and 8 since the start of Australia’s tour of India has become a headache on the eve of the tournament, particularly with captain Aaron
Finch still looking a frustrated batsman at the top of the order.
All the while, one of the world’s best batsmen Steve Smith is watching from the sidelines.
Waugh and fellow Fox expert Adam Gilchrist questioned Maxwell’s decision-making early in his innings – particularly against the short-ball – and the superstar now has just two opportunities to try and play himself back into form before the World Cup opener against New Zealand on October 22.
David Warner suffered a nasty scare in the field on Wednesday night when his head crashed heavily into the Manuka Oval turf attempting an over-the-head catch near the boundary rope.
The opener passed a concussion test in a major relief for Australia, but wasn’t able to convert in Canberra and continue his blazing form streak.
STARC TACTIC
Australian skipper Finch isn’t done tinkering with his World Cup plans, with Mitchell Starc kept back from opening the bowling for only the second time in his career and the first since 2014.
Finch opted to start off with Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins, and only time will tell whether it was a specific game plan to match-up against England opening hitters Jos Buttler and Alex Hales, or just a bid to make sure all bases are covered for any eventuality that might occur in the World Cup.
Starc’s reputation for taking big first over wickets makes it a risky call to not lead off with the left-armer, although perhaps there was a logic to it, with Cummins dismissing danger man Buttler for the eighth time in his career across all formats.
Adding to the surprise use of Starc was the fact he bowled the penultimate over not the last, with all-rounder Marcus Stoinis left to mop up and bowl out his full four overs.
MR CRICKET GOLDEN TOUCH
Not only has Australian great Mike Hussey agreed to help out England as a coaching assistant, he’s now handing out caps.
Hussey presented Dawid Malan with his 50th T20 international cap before the match, only for the elegant left-hander to play a near faultless innings of 82 off 44 to lead England’s charge.
Malan, like Hussey, has a brilliant ability to time the ball and hit the gaps and his 92 off 50 partnership with Moeen Ali completely changed the match after an early England mini-collapse.
Moeen should have been out early but was dropped at close quarters by Maxwell, while Malan should have been caught by David for 54 in the most regulation of the four drops by Australia.
STOIN ALERT
The hulking Adonis from Western Australia continued his impressive return from a side strain injury to take three wickets for the first time in his T20 international career.
Brought on by Finch to bowl the fifth over, Stoinis claimed Hales with his very first ball, and when he was brought back to bowl the ninth over, he struck again to have Harry Brook caught behind.
CricViz stats guru Freddie Wilde who works extensively with franchise T20 teams, explains that “analysts look for role coverage from teams” and that this Australian XI “almost has them all.
Wilde says one question mark over the Australian side would be their bowling depth, but Stoinis is showing he can give Finch options.
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