Australian selectors to unveil first look at T20 World Cup plans
Australian selectors will unveil their preliminary plans for how to win next year’s Twenty20 World Cup on Tuesday, a tournament that has so far eluded the national trophy cabinet.
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Australian selectors are set to meet up on Tuesday and announce the first Twenty20 squad on the road to next year’s World Cup.
The depleted panel, minus the recently retired Greg Chappell, have been in progressive talks to plan the summer ahead, but the first item on the agenda is to try and set a platform for Australia to conquer the one format it has never been able to master.
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Just months after falling at the semi-final stage of the 50-over World Cup, priority will now turn to winning the 2020 T20 World Cup to be staged on home soil, with Australia slated to play 21 internationals in that time starting with back-to-back series against Sri Lanka and Pakistan later this month.
Ashton Turner is expected to be one of the players’ looked at to break back into the international fold after narrowly missing the ODI World Cup in England.
Big Bash headline act D’Arcy Short and comeback stars Steve Smith and David Warner are also likely to be firmly on the radar for a recall, with the first of three T20s against Sri Lanka to start on October 27 in Adelaide.
Australia has long struggled to gain any continuity in the T20 form, with players constantly chopped and changed out during the demands of an often ad hoc international schedule.
Bowling hopeful Andrew Tye believes 21 matches in 12 months gives selectors a chance to nail down a group of players they believe they can build a World Cup campaign around.
“I think we just need to settle on a squad and give them the best chance … Really have a settled team and have a set game plan as to how the team as a unit want to play their T20 cricket leading into that T20 World Cup,” said Tye.
“There’s lots of chances to do that with the amount of games we’ve got this summer, so it’s really exciting and hopefully I’m part of it.
“Over the course of (past) summers, players are rested so some of the guys haven’t played as much T20 cricket as they would have liked. But I think this is a real chance for them this summer to really get some games under their belt and be available.
“That’s the only way we are going to be able to settle on the best side.”
Selectors will also have one eye on the Test summer to come, with the Sheffield Shield set to kick-off on Thursday around the country.
Originally published as Australian selectors to unveil first look at T20 World Cup plans
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