Not so long ago, the team Australia completed a perfect whitewash against the West Indies in a five match T20i series and every new game there was a different match winner for Australia, but, of course Cameron Green shone through in almost every game he played.
For his performances at No. 4, Cameron Green won player of the series. He had the perfect makeup for a position that, depending on the start, may need to be played in a variety of ways. Mitchell Owen, meanwhile, made an instant impression in the middle order after being forced to move away from the opening slot that has helped him achieve significant success in the T20 competition.
“Depth is a privilege to have, and hopefully we can keep building on that,” Australia T20I captain, Mitchell Marsh said. “We saw a lot of guys come in: Mitch Owen, I thought Cam Green was fantastic, Nathan Ellis, again, was outstanding. Everyone played their part. It’s going to be a good challenge for us, but we certainly will welcome a few blokes back in.”
Josh Hazlewood is expected to comeback for South Africa’s series starting from 10th August, but, Ellis, who often closed out innings at the end and gave up 7.88 runs per over in a series when runs totaled 10.23, couldn’t have done more to secure his place as a starter, no matter who is available. In the last four overs, Australia did not let up more than 39 runs.
“He’s been our go-to guy,” Green told ESPN’s Around The Wicket. “And I think he’s, real, real close to getting to that main team, if not in it. He’s the guy that we probably go to [in the] sixth over in the powerplay, we always know that’s so tough, especially when they’ve been none down at a couple of games. I think he bowls three at the death for us, so he’s just doing all the hard roles. He seems to thrive in them. He’s got so many tricks up his sleeve, so we’re really pleased with how he’s going.”
With Head and Marsh back at the top, Glenn Maxwell will probably move back to the middle-order, where Owen has started well with 125 runs at a strike-rate of 192.30. Marsh was the only first-choice batsman who did not contribute significantly against the West Indies.
“In the last 12 months, [Owen has] done a lot of batting at the top of the order, but we wanted to give him that opportunity to play a finishing role and keep building out his game with guys like Travis Head coming back in,” Marsh said. “He was awesome. He’s a ripping kid, took on the challenge, didn’t seem overawed by the occasion of playing international cricket and seems like a pretty calm figure, so that was great.”
“I think the way T20 is going, even again tonight, we were in a little bit of trouble and Tim David came out and batted the way he did,” Marsh said at the presentation. “And teams just keep going now. That’s the way the game’s going.”
Since the beginning of 2024, Australia have won 22 of their las 26 T20is and they would have as many as 14 more matches to finalise their playing xi for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2026 and if the lineup remains same or gets more stronger than this, te=hey will be team to beat in the forthcoming T20 WC.
