Serial champions Australia found themselves in unfamiliar territory at the T20 World Cup as a second straight defeat placed them at the mercy of other teams. And following the washout between Zimbabwe and Ireland on Tuesday, the Aussies were officially knocked out of the tournament at the group stage – a scenario fast bowling great Brett Lee termed a “horrible situation”.
Australia came into the tournament on the back of a 3-0 T20 series defeat in Pakistan and were missing several key players such as Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc (now retired from T20s) and Josh Hazlewood. Captain Mitchell Marsh also picked up a groin injury and missed the opening two matches.
Despite the injuries, chastening defeats to Zimbabwe and then Sri Lanka were a bitter pill to swallow for the 2021 T20 champions.
Australia were largely outplayed by Zimbabwe, falling to a 23-run defeat. They looked a lot more positive against Sri Lanka in a must-win match, racing to 100 after eight overs before folding for 181. Sri Lanka opener Pathum Nissanka blasted an unbeaten century to complete the chase with two overs to spare.
That result effectively ended Australia’s campaign as they required other results to go their way and for them to thrash Oman by a record margin on Friday. All of which became a moot point once Ireland v Zimbabwe was washed out.
For ODI World Cup winner Lee, the very fact that Australia had to rely on other results to qualify for the Super Eight stage was unacceptable in the first place.
“You don't want to rely on other teams in order for you to make the cut. It's a horrible situation to be in. Why is Australia in that situation? Well, that's the question that they'll be asking,” Australia great Lee told The National in Dubai just before the Aussies were officially eliminated from the tournament.
“It doesn't help that they are missing some big superstars [like] Pat Cummins through the injury he suffered to his back. Josh Hazlewood … we didn't see him through the [Ashes] Test series. And then Mitchell Starc as well.”
One of the more remarkable aspects of Australia’s campaign in the World Cup was the struggles of their batters on the slow surfaces of Sri Lanka – they were bowled out in both defeats. And remarkably, they had left an in-form Steve Smith out of the team, bringing him in only when the injuries mounted.
The former captain was drafted in as a replacement for the injured Hazlewood ahead of Monday’s match against Sri Lanka. He did not play the game and Australia are now out of the tournament.
According to Lee, who now resides in Dubai with his family and has business interests with Danube Properties and investment company Yolo, Smith should have always been part of the group.
“One thing I will say is that when you've got someone as talented as Steve Smith sitting on the sidelines not playing, I'd be going ‘You should be playing’.”
Smith’s last-minute selection and Australia’s indifferent form in ICC tournaments – they have not progressed to the knockouts in five of the past six T20 World Cups – point to a possible decline in form, which is coinciding with the irregular availability of veterans Cummins, Starc, Hazlewood, Smith and the retirement of Test regulars such as Usman Khawaja and David Warner.
“I think that [reset] will happen naturally anyway. The natural selection through age. Look, I don't care how old someone is or how young someone is. If they're good enough to play, let them play. Steve Smith's such a quality player.
"He had an amazing Big Bash [T20 with 299 runs in six games]. I like picking players on form and on what they have achieved in their life. If someone's been so good for so long, they get a few more extra free hits, in my opinion.
"To get another crack at what they want to achieve, which is why I would have Steve Smith in the team, first and foremost.
“But the big four of Australia, in terms of Test cricket, they can't play forever. So Australia has got some serious planning ahead of them. Because when you lose Starc, when you lose Hazelwood, when you lose Cummins, when you lose Nathan Lyon, that’s pretty much half the Australian cricket team that have all taken more than 250 Test wickets [each].
“Usman Khawaja stepping down. Australia's got to find a quality opener to replace him, or two quality openers now because David Warner's gone already. So that transition will happen, but it's probably time to look to the next generation coming through.”
