Sydney: A crushing defeat at the hands of Eoin Morgan’s England in the ICC T20 World Cup ‘Super 12’ game has set warning bells ringing in the Australian cricket establishment as the Ashes loom in December.
While T20 and Test cricket are like chalk and cheese — and both sides will have an almost different set of players and captains — for the series starting December 8 at The Gabba in Brisbane, cricket pundits, such as Steve Waugh, have said that “performance with the willow” will be a prerequisite if Australia “are to set themselves up for a series triumph.”
England wicketkeeper-batter Jos Buttler had made the T20 World Cup ‘Super 12’ game against arch-rivals Australia in the UAE look so one-sided with his 32-ball 71, scored at a strike rate of nearly 222.
And former Australia Test skipper Waugh has emphatically said that “the advantage lies with the bat” after the inconsistency shown by the Tim Paine-led Test side against India in the Test series Down Under, which the hosts lost 2-1 against an almost “second-string” India in December-January.
The Justin Langer-coached side crushed India in the opening Test in December 2020, bundling them for 36 in the second innings in Adelaide, before going on to lose the series. The inconsistency is galling, felt Waugh.
“I think they’ve got to believe. Last year we lost a series we shouldn’t have lost and everyone thought we should have beaten India pretty comprehensively. So just getting some belief back,” Waugh said on SEN Breakfast Wednesday.
“We need some runs, we need to score 300 runs in each innings. We need to score 600 runs per Test match, if we do that, we’ve got the bowlers to take the 20 wickets. It really is up to the batsmen to make the big scores. Just consistency and follow up (is the key). We won the first Test against India last year, bowled them out for 36 and lost the next Test match. So we’ve got to get a bit more consistency in our play.”
Waugh felt that consistency in batting can only come with a settled opening partnership, which at the moment “is not set” due to a big question mark over Will Pucovski’s concussion issues. While David Warner will lock one opening slot, the other one is up for grabs.
“It’s interesting with Will Pucovski not there. Marcus Harris is obviously the favourite, but then you’ve got people like Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, there are a number of options there. I think they’ll go with Marcus Harris if Will Pucovski’s not fit. Two left handers, but that will present a bit of an issue because in the previous Ashes series, (England’s) Stuart Broad really enjoyed bowling to the left handers up front. So that’s something they might have to consider,” said Waugh.
Waugh is also looking at batting all-rounder Cameron Green to do well in the Ashes.
“Someone like Cameron Green I think can have a breakthrough Ashes. I really think he’s a special talent so he might be the key person to step up to the plate.”