Last Updated on 2 weeks by Charbel Coorey
Ravi Shastri believes Australia has a depth issue after their latest poor showing with the bat. Couple this with their aging team (all players except Nathan McSweeney are above 30 years of age) and Australia are on the brink of difficult transition period.
Shastri compared the current state of Australian domestic cricket to that of yesteryear. In the past, magnificent players either had to wait years for an opportunity in the Test team or miss out altogether. Prominent examples include Michael Hussey who didn’t debut until age 30 and Brad Hodge who played just six Tests.
Seriously worried about the depth in Australian cricket – Ravi Shastri
“I am seriously worried about the depth in Australian cricket,” Shastri said to foxsports.com.au.
“There were times when players had to play years and years of cricket to make the cut. Mike Hussey, Matthew Hayden – years and years, and you look down the ranks there in Shield cricket and some of the youngsters coming through the ranks, there aren’t many there.
“When you look at the batting line up, a couple of guys in the evening of their career, on the other side of 30 – deep into the 30s, you want to have some depth,” he said.
Australia’s latest poor showing against India at Perth reflects a batting unit on its knees. The signs were there last season against Pakistan, West Indies and New Zealand, but Australia managed to win six of the seven Tests, owing much to their bowlers and crucial dropped chances by Pakistan.
Pat Cummins’ team has been brutally exposed in the first Test, and the criticism is fierce with so many players out of form. Marnus Labuschagne is a prime example, averaging just 30.80 in his past 21 Tests after averaging 60.82 in his first 30. Steve Smith, Travis Head and Usman Khawaja have also struggled in the past year, with none averaging above 33 in this period.
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What could the Australian top order look like in the next few years?
19-year-old Sam Konstas, who was a candidate to open against India after twin centuries in the Sheffield Shield, is a future prospect. Other opening candidates Marcus Harris and Cameron Bancroft are in their 30s, so one feels the selectors will be hoping Matt Renshaw starts to bang the door down at 28 years of age and supposedly his best years ahead of him.
If Nathan McSweeney doesn’t succeed at opener, he is an option to bat at three. After Steve Smith, Cameron Green, who hit 174* in New Zealand, will be sure to occupy that number four spot.
The likes of Josh Inglis and Beau Webster are also on the doorstep of the Test team, but as middle order players.
“The standards generally get driven in a team because you’ve got many players pushing for places in it – I just don’t see too many doing it,” said Michael Vaughan.
“When Australia had a batting line up that had many world class players in it, I reckon you probably had seven or eight world class players not in it – and that was just in the batting department.
“Who is pushing? How many players outside of this Australian camp… outside of (Josh Inglis), who are the players getting the numbers to put these players in this team under pressure? I just don’t see it.”
