Australia, somewhat surprisingly to some including me, won last year’s T20 World Cup, an achievement that relied heavily on players who had decided against playing any international T20’s in 2021 prior to the competition going ahead, while continuing to mine the riches of the IPL despite this. In achieving this victory, the team has set itself up for a repeat performance in this year’s T20 World Cup, which will be played in Australia during October and November.
As of the recording of this episode, Australia has won all four of their matches in the local series against the young Sri Lankan team, with both sides rotating players both due to injuries and covid infections. And while not everyone will agree, Australia’s victorious run for me has come from a combination of some good play, but also a complete lack of luck for the Sri Lankan contingent.
The current squad and performance does raise the question as to what sort of team Australia will go into the tournament with in eight months time. Given the short turnaround in tournaments, one could have been forgiven for thinking that a very similar 11 would line up in Australia’s first match that played in that final a few months ago, and yet already there are questions being asked over several members of that team, and whether or not a refreshed line up would be required, not only through current form or the lack thereof, but given the different conditions that the tournament will be played in.
On today’s program I’ll run the rule over a number of scenario’s, and as the title suggests, have a look at how Australia’s three longest serving members fit into the team as it now stands, and whether or not they will still be in the running come October. So if you are interested in the opinion of someone who is not Shane Warne and doesn’t carry all of the biases of Victorian mates or hand picked players he wants to force into the team through his constant praise of them, then join me as we move into another edition of The Casual Mankadder, right here on Thoughts from the Metal Cavern.