Australia’s exit from the T20 World Cup has turned the attention back on selectors, with two key omissions coming back to haunt the tournament heavyweights.
Following losses against Afghanistan and India during the Super Eight stage, the Aussies will now head home after missing out on a spot in the semi finals.
Prior to the event, the decision to leave young gun Jake Fraser-McGurk out of the squad raised plenty of eyebrows, instead sticking with the experienced David Warner.
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The decision ultimately did not pay off with a trophy, but according to former Test captain Mark Taylor, that was not the call from selectors that should come under scrutiny.
Speaking to Wide World of Sports, Taylor reiterated his stance that Steve Smith should have been included, claiming that the Aussies missed his calming presence in tough conditions.
“I still think Australia should have picked Steve Smith and I thought that when they first left him out of the squad,” he said.
“If you look at the Afghanistan game, when you get a slow, turning wicket as they did, I would want Steve Smith in my side. He has the tools to play well in those conditions more than most players in that Australian side, if not all of them.
“That’s where I think Australia missed out. Smith batting anywhere from four to seven would have been better than the players that we had on a slow, turning wicket.
“If you get those sorts of surfaces, you want players who are good batters and not just necessarily good hitters. That’s why I reiterate that I would have had Steve Smith over other players, because you don’t know what you’re going to get when you’re away.
”With the Fraser-McGurk and Warner thing, I think that was a 50/50 call. You could have gone either way and mounted a good case either way on who should play.
“I don’t think that made a lot of difference.”
Smith was overlooked for the squad, with the likes of Marcus Stoinis and Tim David both earning selection and playing a role in the middle-order for the Aussies.
As for the country’s best young talent in Fraser-McGurk, his future in the national team is seemingly inevitable but according to Taylor, he still has some work to do if he wants to emulate the retiring Warner as a three-format superstar.
”If you look back to 2009, David made his debut at the MCG playing T20 cricket against South Africa,” he said.
“Everyone earmarked him as a short-form cricketer, but he tightened up his five-day play and became a very good Test cricketer. It’s certainly possible, but I’m not sure at this stage that Fraser-McGurk has got the Dave Warner defence in him.
“If he wants to be a Test cricketer, that’s something he will have to work on.”
Fraser-McGurk made his debut for Australia last summer and looks to be a tremendous white-ball asset with bat in hand, but averages just 18.96 in his first-class career to date.
The 22-year-old has been a standout for the Melbourne Renegades and is expected to feature for the Aussies at the next ODI World Cup in 2026.