"It's players that have been there before, done it": McDonald defends Australia team selection for WC squad
May 07, 2024
Melbourne [Australia], May 7 : Australia head coach Andrew McDonald has backed his senior players and said they have shown promise to deliver on the big stage after questions were raised about the exclusion of youngsters like Jake Fraser-McGurk and the average age of the team.
Jake Fraser-McGurk,22, has been in blazing form in the IPL, has been left out of the squad and his exclusion from Australia's squad for next month's ICC Men's T20 World Cup raised some eyebrows.
Fraser-McGurk has 259 runs from six innings for the Delhi Capitals (DC), and his strike rate of 233.33 is the highest for any player with more than 60 runs in the tournament.
Australia's selectors seemingly preferred experience and thos who have delivered in the past and McDonald defended the call.
"There's been a discussion around the age profile of our team in all formats. I'm a big believer in you don't know when the end is going to be. And a lot of people write off those players just based around their age," McDonald said, according to ESPNcricinfo.
Australia's side will only have one player under the age of 28, with Cameron Green turning 25 just before the event begins. There are three players aged under 30 - Nathan Ellis, Tim David, and Greg Inglis.
"We feel as though in the last 12 months in particular in the white-ball space we've given plenty of opportunities to other players. Have we gone back to the tried and tested in terms of World Cups and the performers that we know can perform on that stage? There's no doubt about that. It's players that have been there before and done it and are still in good form. And you look at David Warner in the last 15 games for Australia, his record is outstanding. Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, those players who are probably the elder statesmen of the team are still performing at the international level. And that goes a long way," McDonald said.
Australia open their T20 World Cup campaign against Oman in Barbados on June 5, before Group B fixtures against England, Namibia and Scotland.
Australia squad: Mitchell Marsh (c), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, David Warner and Adam Zampa.
