As Australian cricket continues to digest the abject failure to even reach the semis at a home T20 World Cup, former legends have slammed the side for ‘flying the white flag’ and making excuses for their poor performances.
After being completely obliterated by New Zealand in an 89-run defeat in the tournament opener, the Aussies were always up against it to make the finals, and the side never really got going from there.
Australia just snuck over the line against both Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, and while they comfortably accounted for a weak Ireland side, it wasn’t enough to give fans any confidence that the team cared enough to challenge for finals.
When the side was finally put out of its misery after England’s victory over Sri Lanka on Sunday, Glenn Maxwell gave a telling insight into just what the tournament meant to the team.
A furious Glenn Maxwell reacts during the side’s win over Ireland. Australia might have , but it wasn’t something that has affected Maxwell
‘You can’t dwell on it. I think you move on pretty quickly,’ Maxwell said after England ended Australia’s semi-final hopes.
‘Maybe when you retire you think back to it would have been nice to win that but it doesn’t mean anything. I wish we had of won, but we didn’t.’
Maxwell said Australia’s schedule has been so heavy that the T20 World Cup tournament didn’t exactly rate highly – and he wasn’t the only player to suggest a crowded fixture could explain the nation’s poor performances.
Aussie skipper Aaron Finch said the side was already ‘fatigued’ leading into the tournament
Glenn Maxwell (pictured with glamorous wife Vini Raman) has an estimated net worth of more than $20million – and says there are too many cricket fixtures to bother dwelling on a World Cup loss
Prior to the tournament even starting, the groundwork for excuses was laid by skipper Aaron Finch as he conceded the side was already ‘fatigued’ before a ball was bowled.
Given most of the Aussie players earn well in excess of $1million a year, that excuse didn’t wash for a number of former legends of the game.
Former Aussie great Simon O’Donnell slammed the players for their ’emotionless’ play during the tournament, and rubbished their fatigue excuse
‘When a captain of the national team is saying it [the team is fatigued] before a tournament starts, that’s white flag stuff before it even starts … that really gets up my goat,’ former ODI star and prominent commentator Simon O’Donnell said on SEN Radio.
‘I couldn’t understand how emotionless we were … I thought we just looked not there.
‘I think Maxwell’s comments said everything about how the players felt, how the team felt.
‘India play all the time in all three formats. They play constantly and they’re not tired. That’s not an option. Or they don’t admit it. It is a privilege to play for you country,’ said the all-rounder, who took 114 wickets for his country and once held the record for the fast half-century in one-day cricket.
It was a sentiment shared by Mark Waugh, who noted that the side ‘looked flat’ during their must-win game against Afghanistan, despite the high stakes.
England legend Michael Vaughan zeroed in on the problem, saying not only were Australia flat, but they lacked the intense competitive spirit of their predecessors.
‘I look at this group (and) I don’t think they’re quite as ruthless as some of the old (Australian) teams,’ he told Cricbuzz Live.
‘I don’t see that from this Australian team. I think they’re quite a nice team to play against.’
A dejected Josh Hazlewood, pictured during the side’s thrashing at the hands of New Zealand in the opener, was indicative of Australia’s tournament
It wasn’t just the side’s mentality that came under question, with the tactics and selections made head coach Andrew McDonald and his support team also attracting criticism.
Of particular note was the baffling decision to replace Mitchell Starc with the under-done Kane Richardson for the must-win game against Afghanistan, when Australia needed quick wickets and big runs to have any chance of making the semis.
Richardson, who hasn’t played a whole lot of cricket of late, subsequently went for 48 runs off his four overs, and Australia only squeaked home by the barest of margins.
Even if Starc occasionally goes for runs, what Australia needed was quick wickets – something he does better than almost anyone else in the world.
Kane Richardson was parachuted in for the last fixture and conceded 12 runs an over, and was out for just 1
McDonald explained Richardson got the nod due to his bowling at the death, but that was savaged by legendary wicketkeeper and commentator Ian Healy.
‘You’ve (Andrew McDonald) just admitted to the greatest mistake of the tournament. Death bowling, when you’re trying to knock Afghanistan over up front. How’d that decision get made?’ Healy said on SEN.
‘You’re looking to knock over a talented but inexperienced Afghanistan top order and you drop Starc … and then Pat Cummins has had to change his role, they’ve all had to the change their role.
‘It’s just gobbledygook. Very average.’
Admittedly Healy’s niece, Aussie women’s superstar Alyssa Healy, is married to Starc, but every point he made is entirely valid and backed up with stats and tactical nous.
Mitch Starc, pictured with wife Alyssa Healy, was controversially dropped for the last game of the tournament
For his part, McDonald admitted there would need to be changes given the nature of the performances in the tournament.
A team of old men – Cameron Green was the only player under 29 – in a young man’s game was never going to end particularly well, and it appears McDonald can finally admit he has no other option but to rejuvenate the squad.
Australian coach Andrew McDonald has admitted the T20 side may need to be overturned after a disappointing World Cup campaign
‘We have only got ourselves to really blame,’ in a press conference after Australia bombed out.
‘We will go through what that looks like in terms of building towards the next World Cup in 2024.
‘There will be some natural turnover because of the gap and space and also the age profile of the team.
‘So there will be some people that get some opportunities, albeit next August when we play T20 again,’ said McDonald.
For now, Australia will look to re-group with a three-game ODI series against England starting November 17, before the summer Test series kicks off against West Indies on November 30.
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