By Lorenzo Di-Mauro Hayes
It is fair to say that the 2024 edition of the T20 World Cup will be the biggest yet, at least in terms of sheer size as twenty different nations battle for the converted prize, an increase from 16 at the previous edition.
The expansion of the tournament has been welcomed news to the world’s best cricketing nations with associate status within the International Cricket Council (ICC), who have focused on T20 cricket as the most essential format of the game for the purpose of the national team’s development.
The only true way to expand cricket to beyond the big, powerful, full-member nations, is for the smaller nations to get the regular opportunity to play the test-playing nations in the shortest, most chaotic format designed for closer finishes and more crazy happenings.
The fact that this tournament will be run on a biannual basis, which will include a journey to Australia and New Zealand in 2028, is what is going to be needed for nations like the Netherlands, Scotland, Oman, Papua New Guinea, Nepal, the United Arab Emirates among others to be given the opportunity to punch above their weight.
Even though the increased regularity of the event will undoubtably create a sense that the tournament is always happening, it does feel like we had only just taken down our decorations from the last T20 world cup. However, the importance of the performance of the associate nations in this tournament cannot be understated, as the West Indies are co-hosting this tournament with the non-test playing nations the United States of America, with games set to be played in New York, Texas and Florida. Although Australia will not play a game in the States, the highlight of the tournament might just be the Group A match between India and Pakistan in New York, set to be played in the early hours of June 10 on the Australian east coast.
The thrilling most recent edition culminating in England crowing themselves the best white ball cricketing nation, something that was put to bed as soon as it was believed, as England who had neglected the 50-over format for bazball tests and the T20 game, had a horrific tournament and only barley squeezed through into the top eight qualifying for next year’s champions trophy in Pakistan as a result.
Group B has two clear favourites for the two spots available for the super eight stage, England, and Australia. The Australian team are looking to hold the three biggest prizes in world cricket all at the same time. In 2023, the team won the World Test Championship in England and the Cricket World Cup in India, both against the Indian side, but failed to make much of an impression when they hosted the event in 2022. A third-place finish in the group hides the fact that Australia, following a bad loss to New Zealand at the SCG before the match up against England at the MCG was rained away, basically assured an early exit before the semi-final stage. If Australia are not in the last four of the tournament, it will likely be deemed a failure based on the national team’s recent good run of form.
Much was made of the selection of the Australian squad. Notably absent was Jake Fraser-McGurk, who has lit up the Big Bash League in multiple seasons playing for the Melbourne Renegades. He will be available in the West Indies as a reserve but will only be able to take part should another member of the team be unable to see out the tournament.
The tournament got off to a strange start for Australia when only nine members of the squad was available for a practice match against Namibia in Port of Spain, which led to head coach Andrew McDonald, assistants Brad Hodge and Andre Borovec as well as national selector George Bailey all contributing as substitute fielders during the Nambian batting innings. However, there is set to be no such issue for the remainder of the tournament for the Mitchell Marsh led side.
David Warner has become a forgotten element of the side given his public departure from the test cricket arena in Sydney earlier this year. He is set to play for his country one more time at an ICC event. Fellow left hander Travis Head will join Warner at the top of the order. Head might be the most important puzzle in the Australian team at this tournament. Playing well across all three formats, Head has been crucial in the team’s wins during both the World Test Championship and Cricket World Cup Finals, and comes to the Caribbean off the back of the Indian Premier League (IPL) season, where he scored more than 500 runs at a strike rate just below 200.
The middle order will not make life any easier for opposing teams upon the taking of wickets as into bat would be Mitch Marsh and Joe Inglis. The all-rounders might be the greatest piece of stock Australia has with Cameron Green, Marcus Stonis, and the always entertaining Glenn Maxwell, all formidable with bat and ball in hand. The bowling stocks are as strong as always with Hazlewood, Cummins and Starc to headline the pace bowling. Cummins helped lead Sunrisers Hyderabad to an IPL final, but was left out of the team’s opening match against Oman, despite previous statements that there was no concern about his fitness. Adam Zampa and Ashton Agar are the two frontline spinners.
Australia will need to survive the group containing England as well as Namibia, Oman, and Scotland. Group B is the only group with less than three test playing nations. It is the strongest group when it comes to associate nations, with all three of the non-test playing nations participating in the second edition of League 2, through 2024 to 2026, an ODI tournament where nations will be attempting to qualify for the 2027 Cricket World Cup.
Australia's tournament kicked off against Oman with a 39-run win. Warner got past 50, as Stonis top scored. He was also the pick of the bowlers with three wickets, earning him the player of the match award.
Australia are set to play England in Barbados. The team's last two matches will be against Namibia in Antigua and against Scotland in St Lucia. The top two from each of the four groups of five will advance to the Super 8 stage. This stage will consist of two groups of four teams each, and each team will play every other team once. The top two from these groups advance to the semi-finals, where the winner of those two matches will proceed to the final of the tournament, which will be held at Kensington Oval from 12:30am AEST on Sunday June 30.
Comments