Former Australian captain Mark Taylor believes there’s one ‘worry’ to come from Australia’s T20 World Cup squad after Steve Smith was omitted.
The 34-year-old has struggled for consistency in the short-form arena and missed out on selection for the June tournament.
Mitch Marsh, Tim David, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade and David Warner all got the nod ahead of him while Josh Inglis is the keeper.
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Taylor agreed the snubbing of Smith marks the beginning of the end for him in white-ball cricket but pointed to a potential concern the Aussies could face in the USA and Caribbean.
“It’s a surprise to me but it’s not a shock,” he said on Nine’s Wide World of Sports.
“Steve Smith’s been in and out of the T20 side over the last 12 to 18 months. They’ve tried to find a spot for him in the top three but when you’ve got David Warner, Travis Head and Mitch Marsh, Australia are going for the power game, it’s what every side is going for. When in doubt, pick a guy with power.
“The worry for me, and it’s the only worry Australia has got is if things don’t go well at the top and they play on some slow pitches, which they will in the Caribbean, they might lose a little bit with Smith.
“The ability to build an innings, which you don’t really get a huge opportunity (to do) in T20 cricket, they might miss that steady hand in the middle just to rebuild things a bit.”
Smith wasn’t the only surprise omission for Australia with Jake Fraser-McGurk thought to be in contention.
The 22-year-old has had a breakout season, taking the BBL and IPL by storm while also making his ODI debut in February.
Taylor believes his non-selection was simply down to having too many similar players.
“He’s having a terrific IPL in India at the moment, he certainly is a player of the future or certainly a hitter of the future but at the moment, Australia has got enough hitters, that’s not their problem,” he said.
“If you go back to the ODI World Cup last year, Australia were 7-90, chasing 290 against Afghanistan. Glenn Maxwell makes 200 in them middle order.
“So what Australia are doing is picking power players so Fraser-McGurk will probably be next one in but at the moment they’ve got plenty of them already.”
Australia will seek revenge at the tournament, having failed to make it out of the group stage in 2022 at home.
The Aussies currently sit first on the ICC rankings in Test cricket but trail India in the white-ball formats.
Taylor believes after a strong 2023, the Aussies will be right in contention come June.
“They can win it, no doubt about it,” Taylor said.
“I think there’s a very good feeling in the Australian side at the moment. They’re world Test champions, they’re world one-day champions, they’re a chance to get the triple crown if that’s the right way to put it.
“They’ve got a belief in this side. Mitch Marsh will captain the side, he’s very good mates with Pat Cummins. He’ll enjoy having Pat Cummins alongside him as a lieutenant to chat too.
“So I think there’s a lot of positives for Australia, they’ve got this belief they can win, particularly in tournaments and with T20 cricket you’re seeing one day you’re a champion, next day you’re a loser so it’ll go just on the day.
“Australia will get to the end of the tournament somewhere and then it’ll just be on the day.”