Australia must bring in Steve Smith or risk a T20 World Cup spinout

Australia’s Twenty20 World Cup preparations have shades of England’s Ashes disaster unless selectors are willing to admit they have got it wrong and send an SOS for champion batsman Steve Smith.

English management gambled and lost spectacularly in electing to bypass any competitive matches in Australia ahead of their Ashes tour. Instead, they played three one-dayers against New Zealand across the Tasman, losing all convincingly. These monumental errors of judgment were not only highlighted in hindsight – they were recognised contemporaneously in sharp focus. The results would surprise no one outside the England inner circle.

The Ashes caravan has moved on and, with barely time to take a breathless pant, the international calendar turns the page to the T20 World Cup.

Australia appears to have taken a sneaky glance at England’s manual for this tournament.

It was terrific to watch the three-match “warm up” series against Pakistan not because of Australia’s successive record-breaking defeats but to see Gaddafi Stadium filled to the rafters (if it had any) with a rugged-up Punjabi crowd enjoying their hot teas and hotter team. Pakistan played great, Australia played like they just arrived from Mars.

The idea was that a short, sharp series was ideal, up against an excellent opposition in conditions that would most reflect those that would be encountered during the tournament, played in front of a hostile crowd.

These factors were different from England’s pre-Ashes stuff at least. The problem was the results were the same as England’s losses.

Modern coaching staffs and selectors have access to no end of video information and statistical data, yet Australia have gone to a sub-continental tournament with only two specialist spinners and part-timers Glenn Maxwell and Cooper Connolly. Connolly’s prowess is built on the hard “sliding-on” Australian pitches rather than the grip and hold surfaces so often served up in the subcontinent, plus he has no clue of how to handle spin when he bats.

Nathan Ellis will be effective on these pitches but his fitness is not assured, leggy Adam Zampa pulled up lame, quicks Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins are out, Mitchell Marsh’s form in the BBL and now Pakistan is a worry. You can bet he will have spin bowled at him in the opening over, he won’t be getting high bouncing pitches that enable him to flay sixes over square leg from a good length.

Matt Kuhnemann’s left-arm slows look to be going nicely in those conditions, but where is the spin to back up the specialists?

Matt Renshaw lobs a few slow sliders but fancy him getting a game instead of Matt Short or heaven forbid Steve Smith? Smith is arguably the best player of slow bowling in the world, he is a clever problem solver when the spinners attack his pads, able to reverse or lap sweep or use his feet to meet the ball as it bounces then hit straight back over the umpires hat. Chairman of selectors George Bailey must have lost Smudge’s number because it is a no-brainer that Smith is in the top world team let alone the best green and gold one.

The argument given that Australia already has two openers in form, namely Travis Head and Marsh, is spurious. Those two are terrific in conditions that suit, they both thrive on high, consistent and reliable bounce to blaze away, they will not get that in this World Cup and teams will bowl lots of spin during the power play.

Pakistan had four spinners in those warm-ups as they made Australia look third rate. Australia must learn from those performances, get Smith on the short flight from Sialkot now that he has signed for the Stallions in the Pakistan Super League and change the batting order if that’s what it takes to get Smith in early.

According to the national selecting triumvirate Australia can change its Test batting order on a whim or a lumbar tweak but the 20-over order is immutable, even though the alternative evidence is overwhelming.

Twenty-over batting orders are usually considered to be the most flexible of all the formats in an attempt to get the best “match-ups”, but Australia are doing their best to buck orthodoxy while ignoring the bleeding obvious.

While they are booking flights they could reserve seats for Tanveer Sangha or Corey Rocchiccioli or Todd Murphy or Beau Webster’s all-round off-spinning powers into the squad now.

Marsh no longer bowls and Cameron Green is only just surviving on his batting, he looks hesitant against spin and his bowling has lost the radar.

England cobbled together a wasteful preparation and losing can become habitual, and they refused to change their team until it was too late, hanging onto out of form and unsuited personnel.

On form – and yes, there are some players to return, Maxwell being the sole spinning all-rounder – Australia’s general class will get them to the play-off section of the tournament, but that’s when they will come up against quality spin-heavy teams.

Australia failed to make the semi-finals of the last T20 World Cup and they might well do so again unless they rethink the obvious.