Australia’s abject form in ODI cricket in 2018 was in part put down to the absence of key men David Warner and Steve Smith- and their return has sparked hope down under of another run at the World Cup trophy.
Whether that hope will materialise into anything when the quadrennial showpiece gets underway will depend on how well the two perform – and also how well they reintegrate into the team.
Having taken over from Darren Lehmann in the wake of the sandpaper ball-tampering saga, Justin Langer has built a team that showed signs of improvement across all three formats since Australian cricket was dealt that gut punch.
While Smith may be allowed to resume the captaincy eventually, Cricket Australia will not permit him to take over those duties immediately – and he and Warner will need to take their place as rank and file players, albeit as senior professionals.
Warner and Smith both played in the Indian Premier League this year, with Warner starring for the Sunrisers Hyderabad while Smith captained the Rajasthan Royals at times – and played a few meaningful knocks without lighting up the T20 event.
Australia beat Pakistan five-nil in an ODI series in the United Arab Emirates earlier this year without Smith and Warner, suggesting that the team had righted itself somewhat even without the disgraced duo.
Smith and Warner’s first game back in the colours of Australia was an unofficial one-day match against a New Zealand XI. Warner was dismissed for 39 while Smith crafted 22 in the first game of a warm-up series against a depleted NZ outfit. In the second game, Warner was dismissed for a duck while Smith looked more his old self with a well crafted 89 not out in an unsuccessful chase.
In that game, Mitchell Starc made a return to bowling, but Australia’s attack, missing most of their frontline bowlers, was uninspired.
Smith particularly needs to resume his role as the glue of Australia’s middle-order if the team are to have any hope of stopping the game’s current top teams from shutting them out of the World Cup semi-finals.
Warner still has great potential to hurt teams from the outset, but Australia need to do a better job of maintaining an elevated run-rate in a World Cup expected to be dominated by high scoring.
All in all, Australia’s chances currently hinge on a lot of ‘ifs and buts’ that will need to change if they are to extend their record as the undisputed kings of cricket’s biggest tournament.
Not only will Smith and Warner need to find form, but skipper Aaron Finch, Usman Khawaja and Glenn Maxwell will also need to play their part, as will their bowlers.
Australia should be competitive at the tournament, but chances are they will fail to recapture the crown.
Written by @JonhenryWilson
