While Pat Cummins, Steve Smith, Mitch Starc, Nathan Lyon and their teammates win Tests for Australia, selectors sideline youth at their peril ahead of the Top-End series against Bangladesh in Darwin and Mackay
“Old blokes win stuff” was a phrase beloved of all-rounder and now coach Dan Christian, as he spent his final few playing years hoovering up Twenty20 franchise trophies around the world.
It’s also a neat summary of the philosophy followed by the national selectors, as they do all they can to keep the ageing core of the Australian Test team together for a glut of major assignments over the next 12 months.
When selection chair George Bailey, coach Andrew McDonald and selector Tony Dodemaide got together in 2022, they agreed on an approach that marked a significant departure from previous panels.
Rather than playing their best team whenever possible, the focus was narrowed to major events. Test series and World Cups were king, while bilateral white-ball series fell a long way down the order of preference. They have effectively become proving grounds for young players, as well as contractual obligations for Cricket Australia.
The Test match focus on the now was enhanced by the aim of securing a spot in the world championship final every two years, adding context to lower-profile series dotted in between bouts against England and India. By rationing resources, they hoped to extend the careers of great players.
Four years on, however, a two-match series against Bangladesh in Darwin and Mackay seems an odd juncture at which to roll out Steve Smith, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc, Scott Boland and Nathan Lyon, all of whom are now 35 and older.
There are sensible arguments for reconvening the frontline Test team ahead of 12 unrelenting months of series against South Africa, New Zealand, India and England. But the prospect of playing an XI with only one player under the age of 30, against a Bangladesh side that just lost a Test by an innings to Zimbabwe, is an unsettling one.
The flipside of Australia’s approach over the past four years has been that opportunities for younger players are only provided when there is an injury or an obvious gap in the side.
That has meant the likes of Sam Konstas, Nathan McSweeney and Todd Murphy have been exposed to Test cricket in the toughest circumstances: against a rampaging Jasprit Bumrah, in the crucible of an Ashes series in England, or on uneven Caribbean pitches against Shamar Joseph. Those experiences were bruising ones for the trio, more so for being followed by omission from the team.
It would have been useful to see any one of these players granted the opportunity to impose themselves on Bangladesh. After all, a Travis Head blitz is not going to prove much the selectors don’t already know, nor will a brace of hundreds by Smith do much more than pad out his formidable Test record.
Numerous senior figures in the game spoken to by this masthead expressed surprise at the absence of even one young batter from the squad. Konstas and Ollie Peake were both mentioned by several as ideal candidates to play. The 13 chosen this week will likely be augmented by other non-playing squad members around the two Tests, but their exposure will be limited to training sessions.
As it is, Jake Weatherald, Cameron Green and Marnus Labuschagne will be the trio most eager to find runs and confidence in Darwin and Mackay, having offered only glimpses of their best in last summer’s Ashes series. Weatherald’s chemistry with Head is obvious, but Test cricket is a game of performance rather than a rom com.
A more persuasive argument for playing an old team against Bangladesh comes in the form of using the series as a quasi-fitness test. Hazlewood, Cummins and Lyon in particular need to reassure the selectors of their ability to stay on the park, making the Top-End Tests a useful juncture to do so before the South Africa tour.
While Cummins’ back stress injury may ultimately work in favour of longevity, meaning he has more Test matches to play over the next three years or so, Hazlewood and Lyon are facing stiffer questions of durability.
Hazlewood has now pulled up lame in his first long-form game back from injury too many times for comfort, while Lyon’s soft-tissue problems should at the very least necessitate he is moved away from outfield duty and remoulded, Jimmy Anderson style, into a close catcher.
In the meantime, CA have an invitational XI going north to play Bangladesh in their warm-up fixture. Another group is heading to Chennai for the annual visit to the MRF Academy in India. Australia A tour India later in the year. Numerous white ball players may travel there, rather than playing in concurrent limited overs series against South Africa and Zimbabwe.
Apart from Konstas, Peake, Cooper Connolly and Campbell Kellaway, Australia also have an emerging generation of fast bowlers currently navigating the same kinds of injuries once traversed by Cummins and company. In years to come, the likes of Callum Vidler and Mahli Beardman will get the chance to make their mark. There is still hope for Lance Morris and Jhye Richardson, too.
For now, the selectors continue to err on the side of experience, even for an opponent as modest as Bangladesh. History will be the judge of whether they have pulled the right rein.
Australian Test squad by age
Nathan Lyon – 38 years old
Steve Smith – 37
Scott Boland – 37
Mitchell Starc – 36
Josh Hazlewood – 35
Alex Carey – 34
Pat Cummins – 33
Travis Head – 32
Beau Webster – 32
Marnus Labuschagne – 32
Jake Weatherald – 31
Josh Inglis – 31
Cameron Green – 27
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Daniel Brettig is The Age’s chief cricket writer and the author of several books on cricket.Connect via X.
