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Tag: three-match series

  • New role in Aussie ODI player shift

    New role in Aussie ODI player shift

    If things go to plan for Australia on Friday newly crowned Big Bash player of the year Matt Short might not get to bat, or at least not for long, in his maiden international game on home soil.

    The Victorian slugger, an opening batter in white-ball cricket for his state and the Adelaide Strikers in the BBL, looms as a middle-order finisher in the opening ODI against the West Indies on his home ground, the MCG.

    It’s a change in regular roles for Short who has nine internationals under his belt, but every single one of them was in South Africa and India. Short, 25, has opened the batting in seven of those games, but also come in at number nine in his second ODI clash.

    He’s one of three Victorians in the ODI squad for the three-match series, but the only one who will play in Melbourne and that’s more important than his actual spot in the batting line-up, even though he knows where he does his best work.

    “To be honest I do feel more confident at the top of the order,” Short said on Thursday.

    “They are keeping the options pretty open for the top six, and they are going to try some guys in different positions.
    “I’ll start in the middle, then be a chance to bat up the top in the next couple of games

    “It’s not a full strength ODI team but every opportunity is huge, especially with the white ball stuff coming up, like the T20 World Cup.

    “Any opportunity to get playing for your country, whether it be through the middle or at the top … if the spot’s there to be taken you just have to take that opportunity.”

    Short said he’d taken advice from Marcus Stoinis, who was dropped from the ODI side after the World Cup following a long-time as a middle-order mainstay, as someone who had opened in the Big Bash but given a new role when he played for Australia.

    “He’s been in a similar boat, really dominant at the to of the order in the BBL but didn’t have the spot available at the international level

    “He’s changed his game, batting through the middle and finishing an innings.

    “I spoke to him on that role change. But it’s still having that same positive mindset.”

    World Cup winners Travis Head and Josh Inglis will fill the opening roles, with Cameron Green at number three as selectors try and work on their best top-order after the retirement of David Warner.

    With interim captain Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne likely to fill those four and five spots, Short’;s position in the line-up could be determined by where big-hitting all-rounder Aaron Hardie comes in.

    While Short will be making his home international debut, fast bowlers Lance Morris and Xavier Bartlett are set to pull on Australia colours for the first time.

    Victorian duo Jake Fraser-McGurk and Will Sutherland, the two injury replacement players added to the squad late for Glenn Maxwell and Nathan Ellis, will have to wait for their turn.

    The MCG debut caps a big week for Short who not only won the BBL award but also confirmed he and his partner, Australian Olympic swimmer Madi Wilson, were expecting their first child. 

    Originally published as Matt Short will bat in the middle order as Lance Morris and Xavier Bartlett will debut for Australia at the MCG

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  • Brutal collision sums up Indian horrors as Aussies seal series

    Brutal collision sums up Indian horrors as Aussies seal series

    A sloppy performance in the field from India proved costly as Australia took an unassailable 2-0 series lead thanks to a three-run victory in the second ODI in Mumbai.

    Australia won the toss and elected to bat but it could have been a decision that backfired had India been more clinical.

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    The host nation dropped an alarming seven catches throughout Australia’s innings in a rather dismal day in the field.

    Aside from the dropped catches, there was also a worrying moment when India’s Sneh Rana was forced to leave the field after colliding with her teammate Pooja Vastrakar as they both went for the same ball.

    The Aussies were a wicket down after 40 runs when skipper Alyssa Healy was bowled by Vastrakar for just 13 runs, but Ellyse Perry and opener Phoebe Litchfield ensured India would not strike twice in quick succession.

    Perry notched her half century before she departed, while Beth Mooney exited for just 10 runs.

    Litchfield’s impressive innings was brought to an end when she was caught behind for 63 to leave Australia 4/160, requiring Australia’s middle order had to fire to set a defendable target.

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    Although Ash Gardner got out for two, the Aussies did well to rack up the extra runs as Alana King even blasted three sixes en route to a final total 8/258.

    The Australian bowling effort started well and had India 2/71 after 15 overs, but India’s Richa Ghosh and Jemimah Rodrigues quickly swung the contest in their favour.

    However, their stunning partnership of 88 came to a shuddering halt thanks to an absurd diving catch from Litchfield to send Rodrigues on her way for 44.

    Ghosh continued to be a dangerous presence at the crease and looked on track for a century, only for Litchfield to quash those hopes when she caught the Indian star for 96.

    Although India were within sight of the finish line thanks to Ghosh’s exploits, some excellent bowling at the death courtesy of Annabel Sutherland proved vital.

    Sutherland, who also took the wicket of Ghosh, conceded just three singles as well as sending Pooja Vastrakar on her way in the 47th over.

    In the end it was Australia who held its nerve to record a thrilling three-run victory as India finished 8/255 after 50 overs.

    Originally published as Brutal collision sums up India’s horror day in field as Aussies seal ODI series win

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  • Mass ODI player exodus looms but Hoff won’t be one of them

    Mass ODI player exodus looms but Hoff won’t be one of them

    This World Cup could be shaping as a mass swan song for a stack of Australian one-day greats, but not Josh Hazlewood.

    The 32-year-old fast bowling veteran has declared he has no intention of retiring from 50-over cricket at the end of the ODI showpiece and is adamant he wants to continue playing all three formats.

    There has been speculation that David Warner, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Hazlewood might all be playing 50-over cricket for the last time at the tournament starting in India on Thursday night, representing the end of an era for a group that famously led Australia to 2015 World Cup glory on home soil.

    Part of the thinking has been that Australia’s big three quicks might look to shed a format to prolong their Test careers.

    Also, Australia has often looked at its ODI selection in cycles with a view to picking players who will be there for the next World Cup.

    However, Hazlewood, at least, isn’t seeing this World Cup as the end and has indicated that continuing in all three formats actually helps him maintain his equilibrium as one of the world’s greatest wicket-takers.

    “I still feel like I want to play all three formats,” Hazlewood told this masthead.

    “It’s easy to say now, I guess. But after the World Cup, I think I’ll still feel the same.

    “And after the T20 World Cup (next year), (I think I’ll) still feel the same.

    “Sometimes it’s easier just to keep going along and playing all the formats and keeping in rhythm and getting your bowling up to scratch and learning new tricks in different formats to then (transfer) to other formats.”

    Hazlewood has had his fair share of injury problems over the past two years which has limited his Test cricket, but the big right-armer doesn’t believe cutting back on the amount of cricket he’s playing is the solution.

    “Obviously if you just play one format there’s big breaks. There’s building up again and getting ready and I always like being bowling and maintaining that level of fitness through playing,” Hazlewood said.

    “It’s obviously a lot of time on the road and there are times when you need to recover and rest and maybe miss a three-match series here or there in different countries, but overall I think I still have that appetite to play all three.”

    Hazlewood is the world’s No.2 ranked ODI bowler and Australia’s No.1 and the good news is he feels as though confidence in his body has been restored by powering through the Ashes tour without any fitness issues, having missed the Indian Test series earlier this year with an Achilles problem.

    “Yeah I have. First game was hard work. I still didn’t have those miles in the legs. But as the (Ashes) series went on I felt a lot more confidence out there and getting that confidence of bowling back-to-back spells, back-to-back days and back-to-back games,” Hazlewood said.

    “It’s just building that workload up again and everything feels in a really good place.”

    This will almost certainly be Warner’s swan song in one-day cricket given he intends to retire from Test cricket after the Sydney Test.

    Although he would still be a key part of Australia’s tilt at next year’s T20 World Cup.

    Starc is 33 years of age and has always said longevity playing Test cricket will be his No.1 motivation when it comes to deciding on whether or not to shed formats.

    However, Starc is one of the greatest white ball bowlers of the modern era and it’s not certain he will hang up the boots in 50-over cricket after this World Cup.

    Starc has already revealed he’s signing up for next year’s Indian Premier League competition for the first time in nearly a decade.

    The feeling is Cummins will at the very least step down from the ODI captaincy after this World Cup.

    Cummins is only 30, but has scarcely played much ODI cricket over the past couple of years anyway, and given his importance to Australia’s Test future might feel he’s better served focusing on Tests and T20s.

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  • Australia’s woes deepen ahead of ODI World Cup

    Australia’s woes deepen ahead of ODI World Cup

    India cruised to a comfortable victory in the first of the three-match series on Friday night in Mohali, but it wasn’t the result that mattered, more the distinct lack of cohesion in almost every facet of Australia’s game.

    Captain Pat Cummins and Steve Smith made solid returns from injury but the skipper revealed the other two key pillars in the side Maxwell and Starc aren’t due to come back until the third ODI against India next Wednesday, leaving precious little time for continuity to build ahead of Australia’s blockbuster World Cup opener facing the formidable hosts once again on October 8.

    If anything, the five-wicket loss in Mohali may further strengthen Australia’s resolve to carry Travis Head through the first half of the World Cup despite his fractured hand, in the hope he can win them the tournament at the back end.

    India’s openers Shubman Gill (74 off 63) and Ruturaj Gaikwad (71 off 77) showed the vital importance of getting off to a flying start in Indian conditions, and Australia believe Head can provide that injection when he ultimately returns to partner the in-form David Warner (52), the only Aussie to pass 50.

    Josh Inglis’ (45 off 45 balls) in the middle order was also timely as Australia contemplate how they plug a hole without Head for the first half of the tournament, especially if they are to decide against calling Marnus Labuschagne (39 off 49) into the final 15-man World Cup squad.

    It might be too late in the piece for selectors to consider another switcheroo, but Cameron Green looks out of rhythm as a middle order batsman in India after a stodgy 31 off 52 balls.

    In his first ever Indian Premier League appearance earlier this year, Green lit it up as an opening batsman for the Mumbai Indians, as he did late last year when Australia shifted him to the top of the order for a series of T20s in India on the eve of the T20 World Cup.

    Green struggles starting his innings against spin and Australia might ponder whether – in Head’s absence – they might get the best out of him by promoting him to open with Warner and giving him a licence to play his shots.

    That would allow Australia to return to its original plan and bat Mitchell Marsh at No. 3 and Smith at No.4.

    It would enable Australia to go hard with its top three and push for a big start to the innings, and then have the option of pulling the handbrake with Smith at 4 and possibly Inglis at 5 should early wickets fall.

    Green told this masthead before the start of Australia’s ODI campaign that the IPL experience opening the batting had changed him as a cricketer.

    “100 per cent, I took a lot of confidence out of that,” Green said.

    “You’re obviously coming up against the best players in the world in pretty foreign conditions. I had a great time. I felt like I was a different cricketer to when I finished that, from where I was before.

    “I had a lot more confidence in my own game and what I can bring.

    “I think that’s the benefit of our Australian team, everyone has had success in the IPL and had plenty of years there.

    “We have a really good idea how to go about it in India and they have great plans for how to succeed there.”

    Meanwhile, Green has formally knocked back an approach from the Brisbane Heat to jump the fence to play for them this year, but is still yet to put pen to paper with the Perth Scorchers.

    Australia’s other big issue ahead of the World Cup is taking wickets, with leg-spinner Adam Zampa about the only likely option at the moment.

    World Cup master Starc (groin) and finger spin all-rounder Maxwell (ankle) will be absolutely vital to Australia’s hopes and selectors will be sweating on how they respond in their comeback from fitness issues.

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  • Maxwell questions his preparation, concedes race against time

    Maxwell questions his preparation, concedes race against time

    Glenn Maxwell concedes he is unlikely to play any of the three one-day internationals against India ahead of the World Cup while questioning the finer points of his preparation ahead of what turned out to be a short-lived stay in South Africa late last month.

    While the destructive all-rounder says he remains on track to play in the 50-over showpiece next month, the Victorian acknowledged he was still experiencing issues related to the broken leg he suffered late last year, and that he and Cricket Australia staff would need to plot a better way for him to spend the days leading up to long-haul flights.

    Maxwell had been due to be part of the Australian Twenty20 squad for the three-match series against the Proteas, but was withdrawn after spending only a handful of days in South Africa after inflammation around the tendon in his left ankle led to pain while training. It is the same leg as the one that was shattered in a freak party incident at the end of 2022.

    He has already been set to miss the five-match one-day series in South Africa for the birth of his first child in the coming days.

    However Maxwell now accepts he is also no certainty to play in any of the three ODIs away to India between September 22 and 27 that effectively serve as warm-up matches for the World Cup.

    After that, the Aussies have official ICC warm-up games against Pakistan and Netherlands before beginning their tournament proper against hosts India in Chennai on October 8.

    Maxwell explained that he had been tracking well for the T20 against the Proteas but believes he spent too much time on his feet in the days leading up to departing, querying whether a CA content capture day may have contributed to the flare-up.

    “I suppose it was just unfortunate timing. I‘ve done a lot of hard work (and in) the rehab space I’ve felt like we’ve got to a really good spot and I think just the combination of doing some testing that weekend into I think the two content days, a lot of time on my feet, not a lot of time rehabbing,” Maxwell said after Sunday night’s Big Bash League draft.

    “I had five days where I was probably pretty weary on my feet and then a 14 hour flight. So I think that combination probably just didn’t help. And it was probably a little unavoidable at the time. So between us and I suppose the strength and conditioning crew, we’ve probably just got to be a bit smarter going forward.

    “Making sure that my preparation is a bit more managed, I think leading into a flight like that. So I feel good. Had a cortisone injection a couple of days ago, I‘m already back in the gym, so I’ll probably get back into full training probably this week anyway, so it won’t be a long turnaround. It’s just knowing that I’m not over the hurdle of the original injury yet.”

    Maxwell accepted that he was unlikely to play the late-September matches against India.

    “Probably not, not the first three in India. But I had that time off anyway. To spend with obviously my wife and newborn so I think with that not in my mind, I wasn’t even thinking about it but I think if it was probably a World Cup game I’d probably be doing everything I could to be ready for it,” he said.

    “I still want to play some part of that India series. But as I said, I’m not feeling any pressure on it. Selectors and the staff have been brilliant with me as well, they don’t want to sort of put too much pressure on me to sort of set that date because they know they’ve got a bit of extra time, I suppose before the World Cup so instead of rushing it, probably put myself a week or two behind being able to give myself extra time, and make sure we get through the whole tournament.”

    Maxwell agreed that the birth of his child added complexity to his rehab program.

    “It’s going to be a busy fortnight. I suppose I’m trying to manage my program and I’ll sit down with the strength conditioning crew tomorrow and nut out of a genuine plan, but obviously there’s some distractions as well,” Maxwell said.

    “I‘m trying to manage obviously a pretty special time in my life with a pretty big time in my career, trying to manage those two and work out the balance.”

    With Maxwell sidelined, Tim David was last week added to the Aussie one-day squad for the South Africa series.

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  • Maxwell suffers cruel World Cup setback

    Maxwell suffers cruel World Cup setback

    Australia’s World Cup plans have been rocked by injury concerns around Glenn Maxwell relating to his horrific broken leg suffered last year.

    Maxwell has aggravated his left ankle during a training session in South Africa and will immediately fly home and miss the Twenty20 series against the Proteas.

    Matthew Wade has already arrived in South Africa as Maxwell’s replacement for the three-match series starting on Thursday in Durban.

    Cricket Australia say they’re taking a conservative route with Maxwell given he was already flying home from the one-day component of the South African tour for the birth of his child and expect him to be fit for the World Cup.

    However, Maxwell will now have precious little cricket before the World Cup, with medicos hoping he’s back for three warm-up matches against India pre-tournament.

    There is no more unique cricketer in Australia’s white ball set-up and what he brings to the table with his game-breaking batting and spin bowling is impossible to replace.

    To lose Maxwell would throw out the entire balance of Australia’s best XI.

    Australia is also hoping there are no further setbacks for three other of their World Cup stars, Mitchell Starc (groin), Pat Cummins and Steve Smith (both wrist).

    All are expected to be fine for the World Cup, with Starc’s groin probably the most delicate injury out of the three to manage after a long Ashes.

    Australia must cut its World Cup squad down to 15 by September 28.

    Maxwell has played plenty of cricket since recovering from the freak broken leg he suffered at a friend’s birthday party late last year, but the strain of back-to-back matches started to take a toll on him towards the end of England’s T20 Blast competition, prompting him to withdraw from the Hundred.

    Australia is going to have to tread carefully to condition Maxwell properly for the arduous World Cup schedule without overcooking him before the start line.

    Maxwell had been working hard putting in a condensed pre-season in Melbourne before the South African series, but unfortunately has suffered a setback with his ankle during the team’s first training session in Durban.

    “We are taking a precautionary approach, given Glenn was heading home next week in any case,” Australian selector Tony Dodemaide said.

    “We will monitor Glenn’s recovery with a view to him being available for the three-match ODI series in India in advance of the World Cup.”

    For veteran Wade, his call-up to serve as a specialist middle-order batsman proves his international career is far from dead and he is still on the radar ahead of next year’s T20 World Cup.

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