The Next Australian Cricket Summer 2021/22

The next cricket summer is one of concern for both the Australian men and women for different reasons: It is getting to be a transition period for the men and the women seem to be experiencing the same issue as the men have in the last decade and-a-half. Specifically, sacrificing the observance of basic technique and discipline in the interests of entertainment. This has been a pervasive tendency criticised in this blog previously and is a criticism of the general Australian approach since the mass exodus of the mid aughts that saw the likes of Warne, McGrath, Ponting, and Hayden retire. It has been a frequent observation that modern teams need to observe traditional basics and further that teams are a shadow of their previous prowess when they experience a mass exodus. These are the two chief concerns that need observing for the upcoming summer, lest they become necessary corrections.

While the shortest form of cricket, the 20/20 format has been wonderful for entertainment, various revenue avenues, for both cricket boards and players and general crowd appreciation. Unlike some critics and commentators who nostalgically allege that the shortest form is bad for the overall game. This is untrue as many youngsters have superior fielding ability and the relayed or parried catches that people like Glenn Maxwell have made famous are a homage albeit contemporary, to the retro brilliance of the likes of Ponting and Waugh.

Conservative commentators and their nostalgic tendencies do tend to allege that the shortest form seems to prevent youngsters from reading game situations; this observation is not without merit because a pervasive and detrimental fixation with positive intent exists to the detriment of sound batting technique. This is perhaps the only truly genuine flaw of the shortest format, it is significant, however. The matches Australia played versus both Sri Lanka and later England in the recent 20/20 World Cup constitute examples: Versus Sri Lanka, Australian 20/20 stalwart David Warner hit 10 boundaries, but no maximums in an impressive return to form. Regrettably in the follow up match a comprehensive defeat by the old enemy, England the top order batters, Warner, Smith, and Maxwell were dismissed playing across the line in a return to old habits appearing not to have taken the positives or percentage plays of the previous game in the name of positive intent.

Percentage plays or the small seemingly insignificant plays need to be focused on including the oldest of basics such as converting singles into two runs and the like. It is not a major adjustment that is required, but merely traditional skills such as the ability to judge the length of a delivery to discern whether to play a baseball-style shot in the event of short length or decide whether use of the feet in getting to the pitch of the ball and playing a classic cricket shot is more suitable. This article is not the proverbial nostalgic-style-rant: classic cricket shots and the more cavalier baseball shots so common in the shorter forms can and should coexist, it is merely the ability by a batter to judge which is appropriate that needs improving or the ability to read game situations. It is most important, indeed paramount to note that despite young cavalier approaches among the English becoming more popular, the marvellously entertaining Jos Butler being a case in point, England are generally sticklers for classic techniques and approaches, particularly in the Test format. Australia will need to counter these with equally classical technique and intuition.

Australia will need to make necessary adjustments else be entertainingly decimated as occurred against India last summer; superbly entertaining matches need to be resulting in superb outcomes for Australia as they will be the host nation. An antithetical result to superbly played comprehensive defeats is essential. The Brisbane Test to conclude the last cricketing summer being a prime instance. The age-old adage of a team being only as good as their last game attests to the need for a team boasting superb potential requiring further improvement.

It is a point made in previous articles, but to quickly reiterate the focus needs to be on attacking fielders, particularly those around the bat and there needs to be more of an emphasis on traditional slip fields and gullies. An example of a traditional field that is highly relevant to the Test format and would work equally well in either shorter form is the leg-slip. England do utilise the leg-slip well, this is a tactic Australia will have to adapt in order to counter the English strategy. The abundance of swing bowlers in the England team means a leg-slip is protection for when deliveries inevitably drift down legside, such as when swing is absent or in particularly humid conditions where grip can be troublesome. The leg slip position will benefit Australian fast bowlers in the same fashion, Cummins, Hazlewood and Starc being vulnerable. If Australia do observe this it will prove advantageous as England traditionally struggle with the Kookaburra ball relative to their native Duke ball, hence if a majority of legside deliveries are converted into attacking opportunities culminating in dismissals, Australia will possess a clear advantage.

The benefit of close in fielders will be for proverbial “half-chances” and will also counter classic technique and in many cases reduce the need for referrals. Close in catchers, will benefit Lyon as well spun deliveries often land in “No-Man’s Land” namely between fielders and prevent fielders from playing across the line, forcing them to play through the line or down the ground. This will see Lyon for example, dispatched for boundaries rather than maximums and more catches taken off his bowling. Importantly, such shots will enable him to field off his own bowling at which he is quite adept. He has been a contemporary cricketing stalwart for Australia rendering yeoman service to the team, always delighted to be a celebrated servant, his swansong seems suspiciously close at age 34.

Another fielding observation that merits mention are positions that have “fallen out of favour”, namely become unfashionable: The most significant one being third man. This is suited to catching and run saving and is an outfield position that negates the spread of fielders as in the shorter forms as it is multifunctional. Close-in- catchers have been covered; leg gullies are as significant as leg-slips in preventing edges flying into gaps behind the batsman. The issue is that fielding positions should be practical rather than fashionable and the incoming Australian captain should observe this in the coming summer.

Tim Paine has been a good player and captain despite recently disgracing himself privately. Cricket Australia has taken the appropriate action however he should not lose his place in the team. He has rebuilt the team from the shenanigans of Sandpapergate and has had some impressive results, as well as building a team with evident chemistry and mutual respect. He should be retained for the good of the outfit, remembering that positive results will yield positive publicity.

It has transpired Alex Carey has replaced Tim Paine for the first two Ashes Matches. Ashes debuts have long been celebrated as a “trial by fire”; it will be a wonderful inauguration and rite of passage for a wonderful player with superb potential. It must be said however, that selecting players for the Test format based on their one-day and 20/20 form can be detrimental particularly for developing players as the Test format frequently requires technique, not required or practised in the other forms.   

Steve Smith was an outstanding and passionate captain until one regrettable error that has been overpublicised; Cummins is currently a preferable choice as a bowling mindset would see a different captaincy style and more attacking approach. This will hopefully see fielders placed in catching positions, as taking catches is preferable to saving runs; the quicker the opposition is dismissed, the more time Australia has to pursue totals and ensure favourable results.

Plaudits in the ladies’ series to Indian, Smriti Mandhana for her century in the rain affected day/night pink-ball Test match in Carrara on the Gold Coast. Her superb 127 registered on the second day was a cause for multiple celebrations. It was rightfully celebrated as a personal milestone, and for Indian and female cricket per se. Mandhana was 80 not out overnight and from an Australian perspective should have been dismissed on bespoke score, but for an illegal delivery by Elyse Perry. This indiscipline was uncharacteristic for Perry but was symptomatic of a woeful day and consequently very average performance by Australia, an outfit that prides itself on high standards. While heat and humidity were factors, catching on the day and throughout the entirety of the match was substandard, with at least three chances missed to orthodox positions around the bat in the space of barely over two hours. It was a cliched instance of how a poor session can shift momentum in opposition favour with only inclement weather sparing Australian blushes.

An observation and criticism to be made of both Australian teams in recent times has been that of consistency. The Australian women show a disturbing trend that has occurred to the Australian men since the tenure of Michael Clarke: Superb results have occurred on their day and in the case of the men, particularly at home, but in recent times even domestic results have been lesser than desired or expected, as evidenced by the series loss by Paine’s Australians to India in the 2020/21 summer and the female series versus India threatened to be the same, an undesired “carbon copy” or doppelganger. It is often a truism in sport that when consistency brings results then improved endorsements come. The Australian women have improved, a case in point is Alyssa Healy: A fine keeper whose fondness for positive intent has often brought her undone. Healy has rectified this in recent times, playing more classical and languid shots, which is a tendency many other in the female outfit will have to adapt for the sake of consistency, but they have tremendous potential, hence if technique and consistency can be regularly monitored greater endorsements will be justified.

Mass exoduses have ended many a legendary team from the superlative Australians in the mid-1980’s under Greg Chappell to the formidable West Indians under Richie Richardson in the mid-nineties and the Australians under Ricky Ponting in the late aughts. This is not and should not be a dramatic prospect. It was once a common practice in Australian teams to have a balance between youth and experience and in the last decade it does seem as though marketing had led to an excessive emphasis on youth which is now slowly fading as several superb Australians are ageing, players like Starc and Lyon furthermore players that were originally selected to embody bespoke youthful trend such as Warner and Finch. The current Australian team is in a privileged position to be able to fuse Test and short-form Australian outfits with an eclectic array of players. Hazlewood and Starc have several seasons to play but have been prone to injury throughout their careers. A superbly consistent state player like Sean Abbott will suffice to relieve Hazlewood and Starc of their duties, preventing further injuries also complementing a gifted seam bowler such as Cameron Green who has not yet registered an international wicket not for a lack of effort or skill.

For most of his career, Nathan Lyon has lacked a spinning partner: When legendary leg-spinner Warne began for Australia he had off-spinners Greg Matthews and Tim May to complement and later in his career MacGill lent invaluable support. It is time for Zampa and Swepson to alternate in complementing Lyon as Zampa is overdue for a Test guernsey and Swepson is getting closer to a one-day opportunity. Swepson has impressive statistics in his short T20 international career: 11 dismissals in 7 matches at 15.72 which indicates he is adept at exposing deficient technique and inducing extravagant shots. In a Test Match scenario, he would not only relieve Lyon but enable the veteran to bowl to those with superior technique while he bowls to the lower order and tail and to those with a more modern approach and induces batting errors. Zampa and Swepson would also complement Lyon in subcontinental conditions; superb spinners like Brad Hogg and Stuart MacGill were not selected to complement Warne as much as they should have been. This was a selection blunder that needs rectifying with the current spin contingent in the Australian team as Zampa and Swepson may eventually work in tandem in subcontinental conditions, even after Lyon retires, hence selecting them soon may prove a viable long-term investment for Australia.

An area where the Australian team needs to intersperse youth and experience is the batting line-up. Smith at 31 and with a history of consistency particularly in Australian conditions is likely to continue for several more seasons. The chief issue for Australia at present is the opener slot: David Warner at 35 has perhaps a season or two remaining at the top level. Regrettably the equally exciting and very talented Will Puckovski has proven to be constantly susceptible to injury, namely concussion and even more regrettably must be a short-term consideration with a view to finding him a long-term remedy. Khawaja is equally injury prone, his knees often serving to hamper his very classically languid and retro approach. While currently in fine form and rearing to go for both the domestic Ashes series and particularly the upcoming Pakistan tour, Australian selectors do need to consider selecting or developing technique against spin with a view to succeeding in the subcontinent.

Regarding observations by legendary Australian captain, Ian Chappell that Khawaja is suspect against good bowling. I would add to this that an old cricketing term was “flat track bully” which described a batsman who thrived in favourable conditions but then faltered in the face of “testing” or challenging situations. Perhaps all batsmen have been a trifle guilty of this in the decades since the retirement of the last great Australian team under Ponting, when developing technique became about grooming entertaining players rather than highly skilled, namely technical ones. This can only be rectified by improving technique, hence the reservations expressed by Chappell are perfectly valid, but several other players are perhaps more vulnerable to quality bowling than Khawaja, examples being the farcical shenanigans when Warner faces Broad, Archer, Rabada and Ngidi. It could and should be argued that Warner, Smith, Labuschagne and Paine need to prepare on pitches suited to bowlers, and facing a pink ball for the advent of the day/night test of the season because record-breaking innings need to come against quality bowling which was once the trademark of Australian batsmen. 

Technique and team balance have been an issue for Australian teams for at least the last decade, but there is sufficient depth across the state teams to avoid retirements having a negative effect; a mass exodus as has historically occurred does not need to and the next phase of Australian cricket should be exciting and one of considerable depth and success for both male and female outfits. A slight change of approach should trigger a change in team fortunes.

Lastly, a recent development of a political nature reflecting a schism between state and federal governments has seen Perth stripped of hosting duties this summer. Just as our Winter athletes should attend the 2022 Beijing Winter games, so too an alternative agreement should be arrived at for Perth. Failing this, it would be wonderful for Hobart to host an Ashes Test as it is seldom it occurs; should a seating capacity of barely 20,000 be deemed insufficient, then Melbourne or another major Australian city should produce a delightful contest between bat and ball for both sides. While some may argue politics will prevent it from being appropriately pleasurable, it will be left to the quality of cricket played to redeem and rectify this.