HISTORY AGAINST AUSSIES
IF history repeats, Aaron Finch’s Australians have Buckley’s chance of winning the ICC T20 World Cup.
Not only do they face the added pressure of winning at home but they also carry the burden of being the defending champions.
The bookies have the Aussies as pre-tournament favourites, but the history books say the odds are stacked against them.
In each of the previous seven T20 men’s World Cups, never has the host nation won. Only Sri Lanka, in 2012, has made the final and India, in 2016, made the semis. The rest crashed out in the early rounds.
If that is not a bad enough omen, the record of defending champions is worse because none have made the next final.
To win next month, Finch’s men will have to break those droughts, but they have their believers after they surprised everyone by winning the 2021 tournament in Dubai.
“They’ll certainly start stronger favourites than what they would have in the UAE,” Fox commentator Adam Gilchrist said. “No one had them as favourites there and, in fact, I think everyone expected they might struggle.
“So the confidence that they had from that, then playing in these conditions, using the grounds that they’re playing on knowing historically how to play those grounds in T20 cricket.”
Mark Waugh agrees the Aussies can turn the history books around even though he sees the tournament as wide open.
“I think they can win again because it’s only sort of 12 months since the last World Cup so they’ve pretty much got the same squad, the same players and really on home soil, you should be harder to beat because you know the conditions better than the opposition,” Waugh said.
“There’s always history against Australia, but they’ve got the team to do it. T20 cricket is all about winning the big moments and that’s why I’ve narrowed it down to six.
“The last World Cup, Australia probably weren’t the best team, but they won the big moments with guys like Marcus Stoinis and Matthew Wade.
“There were a couple of times they got us over the line with the bat, so Australia can definitely break the trend and win.”
Leg spin legend Kerry O’Keeffe said Australia had the bowlers to go deep in the tournament so the key would come down to the middleorder batting. “This is a very strong short-form team. It’s a very good bowling team. It’s a very good fielding team. It’s the batting that will come under the microscope,” O’Keeffe said.
Australia’s men have had mixed fortunes in two turns as co-hosts with New Zealand in the 50-over World Cup. In 1992, as defending champions, the Aussies failed to make the semis but won the title in 2015.
The only T20 World Cup held in Australia was the women’s tournament in 2020. Australia won and star all-rounder Ellyse Perry has a simple tip for the men’s team to follow.
“Take it all in and embrace all of it, including the potentially added pressure that comes along with that,” Perry said.