World Cup 2019: Australia need to be brave with selections

Australia’s team management should be bold and find a spot for Matthew Wade in their semi-final clash against England.

Matthew Wade reverse sweeps the ball to the boundary during his century for Australia A against Northamptonshire last month. Picture: Getty Images

Is it time to be bold?

The meek don’t win World Cup finals. There’s rumour they’ll inherit the earth but every indication it won’t be worth much by the time that comes around. Humility is fine, even elite humility but the time is at hand to make changes.

Dare the Australian coaching staff take a risk, roll the dice, back their instincts? On the eve of the side’s most important match so far the universe is daring them to change up.

Usman Khawaja is injured. Marcus Stoinis is under a cloud. And Glenn Maxwell has failed to fire.

It is the time for decisions and revisions.

Peter Handscomb is in the squad and on standby to replace Khawaja having come in to replace Shaun Marsh.

Matthew Wade and Mitchell Marsh are standing by to see if either is needed. Or both.

Marsh is the obvious replacement for Stoinis if the allrounder fails the fitness test. The biggest risk there is sticking with the incumbent who has had a modest series and has question marks around his physical fitness having had both sides scanned for strains. It sounds like he is just holding together.

You can’t afford someone breaking down.

Wade’s your pivot point. He’s the challenge thrown down to the selectors/coaching staff. They have clearly rated Handscomb ahead of him by bringing him in when Shaun Marsh broke his arm, sticking with the sentiment that saw selector Trevor Hohns label him desperately unlucky to miss the squad in the first place.

Handscomb scored two half centuries from four outings in the A team in recent weeks and has a track record for returning from exile in good shape.

Wade, however, is in the form of his life. Those who have seen him bat rate him a level above anyone else in the A squad. He’s coming from a solid base having scored a 1000 runs in the Sheffield Shield and impressed in the domestic short forms.

The iron is hot. And so is his strike rate. The selectors let Kurtis Patterson leapfrog Will Pucovski for the Canberra Test earlier this year, bringing in the former to replace the young gun they had intended to play, but they did that on the back of Patterson’s scores in the between times.

In opting to bring in Handscomb ahead of Wade the selectors ignored his A innings of: 117, 155, 41 and 42.

The bowling may not have been great, but that 155 was stupid fast. He brought up the 100 from 45 balls and was out after just 71.

Wade should replace Khawaja if he is not fit. He brings the X-factor they have hoped for but failed to receive from Glenn Maxwell. If he doesn’t replace Khawaja there is even a suggestion he should replace Maxwell whose issues with the short ball can’t be hidden. Jofra Archer and Mark Wood will start warming up the moment the Victorian straps on the pads.

Three changes for a final would probably be moving past brave to potentially foolhardy. That’s poking out your tongue not your chest. Maxwell does provide a lot in the field and the less the opposition batsmen get to face Steve Smith and/or Aaron Finch the better.

Maxwell will be a valuable ally for the allrounder when it comes to bowling the extra 10 overs.

Australia have got this far by playing conservatively. They haven’t so much relied on their strengths as accepted their limitations. England go hell-for-leather from first ball and do not change course no matter how many wickets they lose. It’s a high-risk strategy and not one that works for Justin Langer’s outfit.

The team have won 15 of their past 17 ODI matches. Eight in the lead-up to the tournament and seven of nine since it started.

There will be no shame if they lose to England in tomorrow’s semi-final. Getting this far in this shape is a significant achievement when you consider it wasn’t that long back that the team was in total disarray. Forget the notable absences, this mob weren’t winning games with David Warner and Steve Smith.

Sticking to plans and sticking with those selected has got the team this far, but will it get them any further? People are paid a lot of money to make these decision and others are paid a modest amount to criticise or second guess them.

They will probably go with Handscomb and Marsh only and hopefully it works.

One thing in Australia’s favour is the fact they have never lost a semi-final in a World Cup while their opponents haven’t won one since the early ’90s.

Times have changed, England have changed with them. Time will tell if their time is at hand.