- Banned
- #1
I've already read in some commentary that, along with a battery of all-rounders and a fierce pace attack, one of the great strengths of the Australian side that won the World Cup is its youth.
In other words, a good chunk of the squad that won in 2015 are a better than even money chance to have another crack in 2019.
Sure, Clarke, Watson, Haddin and Johnson will be retired and a few others might drift out of the reckoning based on performance, but it's hard to imagine the same kind of drop-off that followed 2011. From that tournament, only five guys managed to stick around for 2015 - Clarke, Smith, Watson, Haddin, Johnson.
Like I said, when you look at the current squad, it's fair to assume quite a few will still be around in four years. How might we line up in the next World Cup?
This is my best guess, including their ages at the start of the 2019 tournament, on May 30, 2019:
Warner (32)
Finch (32)
Smith (29, turning 30 that week)
Khawaja (32)
Maxwell (30)
M. Marsh (27)
Faulkner (29)
Wade (31)
Pattinson (29)
Starc (29)
Hazlewood (28)
Ferguson (34)
Cummins (26)
Lyon (31)
Sandhu (25)
This list is deliberately conservative. Of course new players will emerge in the next four years. I've deliberately avoided that kind of speculation because the point is that, drawing only from players who have already made ODI debuts, there's a pretty strong squad, young enough but with plenty of experience, balanced roughly along the same lines as the one that just won the World Cup.
There are of course plenty of questions to be answered between now and then. How will Clarke be replaced in the middle? I've nominated Khawaja but it could be any number of other guys. To that end, what are the odds of Shaun Marsh or Cameron White being in the mix at age 35? Or George Bailey at age 36? Will there be any funky changes to the order, like throwing an all-rounder up the top? How will the pace pecking order shuffle out? Will there ever again be room for a specialist spinner?
Also, to anyone who thinks this is absurdly premature, you are of course right. But here's one scribe's go at predicting England's 2019 World Cup line-up, when they will be burdened by the added expectation of hosting the tournament. Try not to s**t yourselves in fear. Let's hope that doesn't come back to bite me.
In other words, a good chunk of the squad that won in 2015 are a better than even money chance to have another crack in 2019.
Sure, Clarke, Watson, Haddin and Johnson will be retired and a few others might drift out of the reckoning based on performance, but it's hard to imagine the same kind of drop-off that followed 2011. From that tournament, only five guys managed to stick around for 2015 - Clarke, Smith, Watson, Haddin, Johnson.
Like I said, when you look at the current squad, it's fair to assume quite a few will still be around in four years. How might we line up in the next World Cup?
This is my best guess, including their ages at the start of the 2019 tournament, on May 30, 2019:
Warner (32)
Finch (32)
Smith (29, turning 30 that week)
Khawaja (32)
Maxwell (30)
M. Marsh (27)
Faulkner (29)
Wade (31)
Pattinson (29)
Starc (29)
Hazlewood (28)
Ferguson (34)
Cummins (26)
Lyon (31)
Sandhu (25)
This list is deliberately conservative. Of course new players will emerge in the next four years. I've deliberately avoided that kind of speculation because the point is that, drawing only from players who have already made ODI debuts, there's a pretty strong squad, young enough but with plenty of experience, balanced roughly along the same lines as the one that just won the World Cup.
There are of course plenty of questions to be answered between now and then. How will Clarke be replaced in the middle? I've nominated Khawaja but it could be any number of other guys. To that end, what are the odds of Shaun Marsh or Cameron White being in the mix at age 35? Or George Bailey at age 36? Will there be any funky changes to the order, like throwing an all-rounder up the top? How will the pace pecking order shuffle out? Will there ever again be room for a specialist spinner?
Also, to anyone who thinks this is absurdly premature, you are of course right. But here's one scribe's go at predicting England's 2019 World Cup line-up, when they will be burdened by the added expectation of hosting the tournament. Try not to s**t yourselves in fear. Let's hope that doesn't come back to bite me.
