Since the 2015 World Cup success,when Michael Clarke,Brad Haddin,Shane Watson and Mitchell Johnson played key roles,Australia’s greatest achievement came against the odds in the 2021 T20 World Cup.
They have not beaten India anywhere,missed the inaugural World Test Championship final,nor have they won the Ashes in England.
An hour of madness in Delhi wrecked their hopes of conquering the final frontier in India but,to appropriate a line from Meat Loaf,two out of three ain’t bad. It would at least match them with Mark Taylor’s team of the 1990s,which finally climbed the pinnacle of world cricket by conquering the great West Indies and also won in England.
Selectors have picked a squad for the here and now. In an era when teams are picked with an eye for the future,that is to be commended. Performance has eclipsed potential.
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Eleven of the 17 played in the2019 Ashes. Eleven will also start the series older than 30. Of the likely starting XI at Edgbaston,only Cameron Green and Alex Carey will be playing their first Ashes Test on English soil.
Michael Neser is the closest to a hard-luck story,but he is not a first-choice player,nor is Cameron Bancroft,whose numbers are almost identical to Marcus Harris. Bancroft’s selection would have been as keenly disputed as his non-selection. In Harris and Matt Renshaw,selectors have opted for continuity.