Rudderless Australia handed rude awakening as World Cup hopes hang in the balance
With 2 straight defeats, and tougher oppositions such as Pakistan, England and New Zealand yet to come, Australia's road to the World Cup semifinal looks tough.
Two games, two defeats. Suddenly, Australia aren't that same formidable force anymore. Six dropped catches, conceding over 300 runs and responding with not even 200. This sure isn't the mighty Australia the world has known for the last 25 years. Something was amiss, right from the time they began their World Cup campaign last Sunday. The Indian spinners stifled them under Chennai's raging sun, and when the time came to land the knockout blow, the Aussies dropped Virat Kohli. The evident lack of killer instinct and not going for the jugular are traits Australia have never not possessed; this unit however, seems to be battling imposter syndrome, and I'm afraid, it might just take a miracle for the five-time champions to make it to the final four.
In 10 matches, six 300-plus totals have been amassed, to go with a score of 400-plus. Australia, in a huge contrast, have managed 199 and 177. Do the math. Even Sri Lanka, who had to win the qualifiers in July to seal a World Cup berth, have knocked off 300 twice. But the OG bad boys have looked clueless, jaded, lacklustre and short of answers. Despite the injuries leading up to the tournament and some questionable selections, witnessing Australia's overwhelming defeat is far from your typical cricket experience.
The rut starts at the core. For starters, Australia entered the World Cup with just one specialist spinner in Adam Zampa. Glenn Maxwell, a part-timer, is the only finger spinner in their squad for the biggest stage in India. With the injured Ashton Agar getting ruled out, Australia picked Marnus Labuschagne, another batter, as his replacement. And now they're paying the price for it. Zampa went wicketless for 53 against India and bled figures of 1/70 against the Proteas. In fact, Maxwell outperformed him, finishing with 2/34. In the rarest of rare sights, Australia appeared under pressure. Don't believe it? Look no further than what Pat Cummins had to say after losing the toss and the awkward tangle Josh Inglis found himself in dropping Temba Bavuma.
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What is it that Australia are doing wrong? Outside of the spin dilemma, only four of their top seven are proper batters – David Warner, Steve Smith, Labuschagne and Maxwell. Mitchell Marsh, for all the explosivity that he has displayed, is an all-rounder. And here's where the situation worsens. Despite including only 4 batters, Australia don't have five specialist bowlers either. Neither Australia's bowling nor batting line-up is complete, and while this squad is ideal for T20s, It lacks the patience and the calibre required to stay steady between overs 25 to 40. That Cricket Australia added Labuschagne for a spinner shows that the belief in Australia's top order has been shaken. Four batters, one keeper batter, two all-rounders. Not sure if that's going to win you the World Cup.
Just the ridiculously high number of batting collapses Australia have endured this year sums up the sorry state of their batters. Between March and October, the Aussie batting has crumbled as many as 7 times. They lost 8/59 and 8/60 against India in March, 8/60 and 8/69 against South Africa – a series they lost 0-2 – and another 4/40 and 7/80 vs India, before yesterday's 6 wickets for 70 runs. Grim. The temptation of playing all-rounders - Marsh and Cameron Green in this case - is understandable but there's a very thin line of difference between them and a specialist top-order or middle-order batter.
All-rounders are typically hitters. Look through the pages of history: Kapil Dev, Ian Botham, Imran Khan, Andrew Flintoff, Dwayne Bravo – Jacques Kallis is perhaps the sole exception, mainly due to his shift towards batting as his career advanced. Therefore, when playing ODIs, the ideal time for stroke-filled all-rounders to bat is anywhere between overs 35 and 50. Green and Marsh have never been known for their improvisational skills. Consequently, when facing quality bowling, particularly spinners after the 25th over, clearing the boundary becomes just that bit challenging. It is imperative for Warner, Smith and Labuschagne to fire. Once they do, the auto-transitions of Maxwell, Green and Carey will become inevitable.
How Australia can revive their World Cup campaign?
As tough as it looks given the issues they're grappling with, there is a glimmer of hope and it goes by the name of Travis Head. The absence of the in-form Head, who is sidelined due to a hand injury, has dealt a significant blow to Australia. His presence, alongside Warner, could have had a substantial impact at the top, affording Australia the flexibility of using Marsh in the middle order. It's anticipated that he will recover by the second half of the World Cup. Head's inclusion in the squad was based on this belief, but it might prove to be too late for Australia.
Their next two opponents are Sri Lanka and Pakistan, with New Zealand and England yet to come. The Aussies need to figure out a way to play around Head's future. If he's available, that's great. However, in the worst-case scenario where he's not, it could turn out to be a blessing in disguise for them. Nathan Lyon has made himself available, and if Head fails to recover in time, Lyon needs to be brought into the fold. The clock is ticking; time is running out. Patty, here's your chance to make amends.
