Banned duo World Cup starters, says Hussey

In the wake of Australia’s record ODI defeat at Trent Bridge, former batsman Mike Hussey expects banned pair Steve Smith and David Warner to come straight back into the 50-over team for the World Cup granted they satisfactorily serve their 12-month suspensions.

Hussey has also questioned captain Tim Paine’s long-term future in the one-day side and Aaron Finch’s new role in the outfit batting at No.5.

Australia lost by 242 runs in Nottingham overnight having conceded a world-record total of 6-481 after Paine sent England in to bat after winning the toss. 

Chasing a colossal 482 to win, Australia were bowled out for 239 in 37 overs to register the nation’s heaviest defeat in ODI history and surrender the five-match series in straight sets.

The tourists are without six first-choice players – Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins, Mitch Marsh, Smith and Warner – and with less than 12 months before their World Cup campaign begins, Australia are ranked No.6 in the world, their lowest ranking in 34 years. 

While the bowling unit that leaked 62 boundaries on Tuesday will likely be vastly different come Australia’s opening match of the World Cup against Afghanistan in Bristol on June 1 next year, the batting line-up will likely see an overhaul too, with Smith and Warner eligible to play after serving year-long bans for their involvement in the Cape Town ball-tampering incident.

Australia’s batting order has chopped and changed in the first three ODIs in search of a consistent, winning formula that has proven elusive. 

Only veteran Shaun Marsh (131 in Cardiff) has posted a three-figure score, while Glenn Maxwell (62 at The Oval) and Travis Head (51 at Trent Bridge) are the other batsmen to post a half-century. 

Australia are sorely missing the expertise and experience of Smith and Warner, who have combined for 22 ODI hundreds and were part of Australia’s 2015 World Cup triumph.

Given Australia’s struggles with the bat, Hussey says he can see the suspended pair returning to the ODI team for the World Cup if they "tick all the boxes" during their time on the sidelines. 

"It’s hard to say so far out, but the quality of player they are you probably would say they are (walk-up selections)," Hussey said on this week’s episode of The Unplayable Podcast. 

"As long as they do everything right in the lead up; they’re in good touch skills-wise, they’re in good fitness, no injury concerns and they’ve done all the right things preparation-wise and behavioural-wise as well, then you’d have to think they’d come straight back in because they’re such quality players. 

"They’ve been quality players for such a long period of time, they’ve had success at the highest level and are important players for Australia. 

"I think they probably do (return) as long as they tick all the boxes along the way."

The pair’s 12-month suspensions lift in late March next year, giving them a two-month lead-in to the World Cup.

With Australia not scheduled to play any one-day cricket from the time Smith and Warner’s bans lifts to when the World Cup campaign starts, it means the suspended duo would return to the national side without having played an ODI since January 2017.

That lack of cohesion and familiarity to the national team has Hussey worried about Australia’s prospects of defending their 2015 title.

"It (the World Cup) is not a long time away and that’s the one thing that does concern me," Hussey said. 

"Leading into a World Cup year, you want to have continuity with your team, you want to get the guys playing together, getting the understanding, the communication out in the middle, knowing their roles very well and feeling comfortable around each other and that’s what England have been able to do. 

"That’s why I think they’ll go into the World Cup as favourites because they have such a settled team and they’ve been playing together for quite a period of time now. 

"Now Australia’s not going to have that luxury. 

"We’re going to have some quality players coming back in but they’re not going to have much time to really build that continuity and communication between the group."

Who will captain Australia in the World Cup is no certainty, either.

When Australia announced the ODI squad for the Qantas Tour of England, Paine was announced as a temporary captain so the message and leadership between the Test and ODI sides was uniform under new coach Justin Langer.

While Paine’s leadership has been outstanding in difficult times and his glovework exemplary, his output with the bat has been minimal.

In three innings so far on tour, Paine has produced scores of 12, 15 and five, with reserve wicketkeeper-batter Alex Carey waiting in the wings.

Carey made his ODI debut last summer off the back of red-hot form for Adelaide Strikers in the KFC Big Bash League and his maiden first-class century for South Australia. 

Hussey is unsure which direction the selectors will go with Australia’s wicketkeeper for the World Cup, but he says it should be based on performance first and foremost.

"I don’t think we should be picking players just because they’re a good leader," he said.

"We need to pick the best players and hopefully they’ve got that cultural base in place that whoever comes in, they just know exactly what’s expected of them from a behavioural point of view and what the culture of the team demands of them as well. 

"We need to be looking at who’s in our best team and the best players to play in that team. 

"I’m not sure in 12 months’ time Tim Paine will be there because if you think Alex Carey is a better one-day option, you’re better off getting him in there sooner rather than later, if the selectors think he’s a better one-day option."

Along with deciding the long-term wicketkeeper and fitting Smith and Warner back in the ODI XI, the selectors and captain must determine where to slot hard-hitting Victorian Finch in the batting order.

Prior to this series Finch had opened the batting in each of his 92 ODIs, but he he has slotted in the middle order at No.5 in the past two games in an attempt to add some experience and resilience to a problem area for the visitors. 

Scores of zero and 20 are not a clear indication of his talents in the position, where he has excelled in the T20 format as recently as Australia’s T20 tri-series win against England and New Zealand in February.

But if Warner does return, Hussey says Finch would return to the top in an ideal world, although he has been impressed by what he’s seen from the vice-captain in the middle-order.

"I must admit, I initially thought that Aaron Finch is best suited to the top of the order and he probably still is," he said. "He can be so dynamic and destructive getting off to fast starts. 

"I think about his combination with David Warner over the last few years from around that World Cup time in 2015, and when they got Australia off to a flying start then Australia won just about every single game. 

"It’s probably the best spot for him. However, I have seen him bat in the middle order in T20 games at the IPL over the last couple of seasons and he does an amazing job. He really is a natural in that role. 

"He comes in and seems find the middle of the bat straight away, he seems to be able to find the boundary straight away even if the field is back (and) he’s got power to be able to clear the fence. 

"I’ve been really impressed with how he’s played in that middle-order role. 

"A bit like Marcus Stoinis, I thought ‘No, he’s got to be the finisher for Australia’ but he’s actually done a really good job up the order. 

"I think Aaron Finch, in my mind, he’s always got to be at the top of the order. But now I’m starting to soften on that a little bit as well, because I have seen him do such a great job through the middle. 

"But in an ideal world you’d have him at the top."

Qantas tours of the UK and Zimbabwe

Australia ODI squad: Tim Paine (c), Aaron Finch (vc), Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Travis Head, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Shaun Marsh, Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, D’Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye

England ODI squad: Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Tom Curran, Alex Hales, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, David Willey, Mark Wood

Australia T20 squad: Aaron Finch (c), Alex Carey (vc), Ashton Agar, Travis Head, Nic Maddinson, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, D’Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Andrew Tye, Jack Wildermuth

England T20 squad: Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, David Willey

Qantas Tour of the UK

June 7: Australia beat Sussex by 57 runs at Hove

June 9: Australia beat Middlesex by 101 runs at Lord's

June 13: England won by three wickets at The Oval

June 16: England won by 38 runs in Cardiff

June 19: England won by 242 runs at Trent Bridge

June 21: Fourth ODI, Durham (D/N)

June 24: Fifth ODI, Old Trafford

June 27: Only T20, Edgbaston (D/N)

Qantas T20I tri-series Tour of Zimbabwe

July 1: Zimbabwe vs Pakistan

July 2: Pakistan vs Australia

July 3: Australia vs Zimbabwe

July 4: Zimbabwe vs Pakistan

July 5: Pakistan vs Australia

July 6: Australia vs Zimbabwe

July 8: Final