Legendary Australian cricketer Mark Waugh has demanded that the national men’s team hire a white-ball specialist coach following their team’s elimination from the T20 World Cup semifinals last month.
After losing to Afghanistan and India in the Super Eight stage, Mitchell Marsh’s team left the Caribbean early and missed the tournament’s knockout stages for the second time in a row.
Following a crushing defeat to New Zealand, the 2021 winners were also eliminated during the group stage of the previous T20 World Cup on home soil.
Waugh criticized Australia’s tournament lineup in an interview with Fox Sports‘ The Back Page on Tuesday night, saying that West Australian wicketkeeper Josh Inglis and Victorian batter Jake Fraser-McGurk ought to have been included.
While Inglis was rested in favor of veteran gloveman Matthew Wade, who had a disappointing season at bat, Fraser-McGurk was left out of the 15-man roster but named as a traveling reserve.
Waugh also criticized the ultimately poor choice to bench ace bowler Mitchell Starc for the pivotal Super Eight match against Afghanistan.
The most reliable T20 bowler in Australia, Nathan Ellis, a Tasmanian seamer, was not selected for any of the Super Eight matches, and Big Bash League stars Matthew Short and Spencer Johnson were not selected for the competition either.
Waugh declared, “T20 cricket needs a reboot.”
Given the kind of talent within and surrounding the group, we ought to do far better.
Many of our talented players were not present at that tournament.
Jake Fraser-McGurk ought to have been a member of the squad as you could have easily had him there, all set to go in an emergency, but he wasn’t.
“It was important that Mitchell Starc was not selected against Afghanistan, and Josh Inglis was not even given a game.”
Waugh also suggested that the national coaching responsibilities be divided, following England’s lead when Brendon McCullum and Matthew Mott were appointed two years prior.
Waugh went on, “I think we need a reboot by having a different coach for 50-over cricket or T20 cricket as well.”
“I believe that someone new should enter and do certain changes.
“I believe we should consider some new perspectives for that T20 outfit.”
Since Justin Langer’s resignation in 2022, Australian coach Andrew McDonald has guided the national men’s side in all three formats. He has previously declared he opposes dividing coaching across variants.
In 2022, McDonald stated to SEN, “My belief is to still have that one coach and share the workload within that.”
“I believe that while messaging consistency is important, priorities can change. The priorities do change from time to time, even though I know that most people dislike me for expressing this. It is impossible to please everyone.
Which format is more important if your coaches are divided? The opportunity to have a single selection panel, a single coach to handle that, provide guidance on the priorities at the moment, and manage the entire team appeals to me.
“For me, it’s crucial that the messages stay consistent.”
Next up for Australia is a white-ball trip of the United Kingdom in September, where they will play England and Scotland.
