Aussies take leaf out of English playbook
SAM LANDSBERGER AUSTRALIA will start planning for the 2023 World Cup in India as countries look to replicate the England model of investing in a meticulous fouryear build with a squad designed for the future.
Coach Justin Langer has publicly lauded how the Aussies’ semi-final conqueror selected both the guts of its World Cup team and its game plan all the way back in 2015.
Seven Englishmen that played in the thumping eightwicket win against an imploding Australia at Edgbaston also lined up on the country’s first
Ex-captain Steve Smith, 30, will also be eligible for leadership positions by then.
Top-order batsmen Finch, David Warner and Usman Khawaja will all be 36 come the next World Cup.
Finch said it was crucial that the coaches and management were “on the same page” and everyone “pulls in the same direction”, which Australia started to do when they tore up their ODI template last December.
While England spent four years building for 2019, Australia’s charge began with a four-hour crisis meeting during the Boxing Day Test.
The Aussies lost 22 out of 26 ODIs before overhauling the team and winning 15 out of 16 ODIs as they led the World Cup ladder with one game remaining.
But England captain Eoin Morgan boasted unrivalled continuity after conceding his team was at ground zero in 2015.
“You can look back and say what you want about the (2015) World Cup, but I’m looking forward,” Morgan said four years ago.
“There’s about 90 games until the next World Cup and we need to get some games into this team.”