It’s fair to say that Cricket Australia has been through 12 of the most torrid months in its history, with the Steve Smith and David Warner controversy clearly having an impact on the rest of the team and its performances out in the middle. It has provided an opportunity for rising stars like Marcus Harris and Marnus Labuschagne to play at the highest level, but with a World Cup just weeks away, those who have been there and done it say this is a time for experience to take centre stage.
Langer backing Marsh
Shaun Marsh might have to admit his test match days are behind him after being dropped prior to the series against Sri Lanka, but he has been a ray of light in otherwise bleak times as far as white ball cricket is concerned. He has reached three figures in four of his last eight knocks in 50 over games, including that magnificent 131 that turned out to be not quite enough to deny India at Adelaide.
Marsh says he has made a point of not thinking too much about his test form, and simply playing one day cricket in his own way. It’s a strategy that is clearly working, and Justin Langer has heaped praise on the 35 year old left hander. He told the ICC website that Marsh has turned into “a great one day international player” and that he will be “a big part” of Australia’s 2019 World Cup campaign.
Smith and Warner are supported by Law
Aaron Finch will be the rock at the top of the order and Marsh will most likely take his regular spot at number four. However, the rest of the batting line up has a look of patched up fragility about it, which is one of the reasons the sports betting sites have Australia as 6/1 outsiders to retain the World Cup. Vice captain Alex
Carey has been opening with Finch, while Usman Khawaja is the man in possession of the number three spot, but all that will almost certainly change for the World Cup.
Stuart Law, a veteran of the 1996 World Cup and a man who certainly would have played more than his one test and 54 ODIs if he had been born in any other era, says the answer is obvious. The new Middlesex head coach was speaking to London newspaper Metro, and said that Steve Smith and David Warner are “two very fine players” who are “very much looked up to in Australia” despite what has happened.
Law is a man famed for his forthright attitude, which brought his stunning English county career to a premature end in 2001. In typical style, he also took the opportunity to give his opinion regarding the way Australian cricket on the whole is being run. He said that placing the Big Bash right in the middle of the test summer was always going to cause distraction, and that neither serves as useful preparation for a World Cup defence.
