Australia's shift in philosophy leading to home World Twenty20

Andrew Wu, February 2 2018 - 5:52PM, http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cr...20180202-h0sf41.html

If the free market was a guide to a team's success, Australia will win this Twenty20 tri-series and with a minimum of fuss. It has assembled a group valued by the big spenders at the Indian Premier League at $10.95 million – more than the England ($1.82 million) and New Zealand ($1.99 million) squads combined.

Sport, of course, does not work like that. And certainly not international Twenty20s, which, to borrow a marketing phrase used by the A-League in its early days, is cricket but not as you know it. Otherwise, Australia would not be ranked seventh in the world or still be searching for its first world title.

Australia's David Warner is one of the top earners in the IPL. Photo: AP

It's widely accepted Australia has been slow on the uptake in this format. Such is the primacy placed on the baggy green – rightly so, many will argue – Australia's Test stars are often unavailable, which means it rarely fields its best possible team outside of the World T20.

This is reflected in how Australia has handed out more Twenty20 caps than any other major Test-playing nation, with 88 in 95 games. As a comparison, the West Indies, who have won the world title more than any other team, has fielded 70 different players in 94 matches, while world No.1 Pakistan only 75 from 123.

There is no greater humiliation than one at home so with the next World T20 to be held on these shores there is extra urgency for Cricket Australia to get their game right.

There has been a recent shift in philosophy, seen in the creation of a specialist Twenty20 selector, Mark Waugh, and its handling of this tri-series. It's inevitable a specialist Twenty20 coach, most likely Ricky Ponting, will be appointed.

The tour of South Africa remains the focus, which explains why Steve Smith, Mitchell Marsh, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood are resting. CA could have allowed them to play part of the tournament but wanted the same squad throughout in order to build cohesion. David Warner was installed as captain for this series and will play through, even if it means he misses out on a tour game in South Africa. It's not inconceivable he, and not Smith, is at the helm for the 2020 tournament.

"There's definitely a renewed focus to put it higher on the agenda," said national women's coach Matthew Mott, who has been drafted into the men's coaching panel for this series.

"It has been perceived as the poor cousin barring world cups. Speaking to the coaching staff, it's really a goal to elevate just what it means. It is playing for your country. For some players it's the only form they play. It's making sure the culture believes this is a huge part of their journey and everyone sees the World T20 in our own backyard as a massive goal.

"That's been shown in the squad picked. This is a team that can play in two years' time and done extremely well in the BBL."

A feature of BBL07 has been the use of analytics, or perhaps the reporting of it. An excellent piece on the cricinfo website revealed the new language used in Twenty20 of true economy and strike rates. In a nutshell, bowlers' economy rates are measured according to how many runs they concede against the average rate for the over they bowl, as opposed to the traditional runs per over, which does not take into account when a bowler is on. The same applies for batsmen.

The use of data is better suited to a franchise environment as opposed to a national team, which does not play as often. There's more matches, a more settled squad, which gives added meaning to numbers.

Mott does not believe Australia has been slow in this area. "I've coached in England and India, for all the talk about points of difference most team meetings are the same," he said.

"I don't see anyone doing something no one has ever heard of."

If things go according to plan for Australia, this squad plus the all-form players from the Test team should provide the core of its side in 2020. The challenge will be in developing and nurturing the squad, who will be at their prime in 2020 and knowing which players to fast track – perhaps a Billy Stanlake, who could by then be the No.2 pace weapon behind Starc. Get that right and the free market might finally be on the money.