Hayden banks on ‘wingman’ Smith to assist Cummins on the World Cup

“We’ve always had a very settled Australian captain with vast experience when you think back to the World Cups – Allan Border’s World Cup-winning effort here in India [in 1987], [had] lots of experience,” Hayden stated at an occasion in Mumbai. “It was a legacy captaincy, and you could go right down through the ages: Ricky Ponting, [and] Michael Clarke – all World Cup winners, and all [with] vast experience.

“It’s bought to assist, there is no doubt about it. But between the opposite characters like Steve Smith – you have seen how seen he’s when Pat’s bought the ball in his hand, he is flapping round as he busily does anyway. But he has bought wingman in Steve Smith as effectively, once more with numerous expertise. So, I’m not saying it is a group captaincy, however I feel it is a resolution that Australia’s bought coated.”

“[Travis] Head and Warner, I feel, are your key openers,” Hayden said. “[Mitchell] Marsh can do a job. But in all situations, once you have a look at the position that Marsh goes to play as an allrounder, I feel a specialist opening a World Cup is necessary.

“But if you’re an Australian coach, you’d have no question going, ‘We want Marsh to come up and open’. And his role can float in and around the order on any given day if they need to have quick runs inside the powerplay, for example, rather than, well, you talk about Travis; he’s still got a strike rate of 96. So it’s still an enormous strike rate. But Marsh can be someone that can have an impact at the top if on any given day they need to have a bigger powerplay than any other given opportunity.”

“Knowing Australian selectors and the Australian sporting culture, the selectors wouldn’t sit around the table and say, ‘oh, what does David Warner want in terms of his own playing career?’ They would look at it in terms of is he performing and what is our plan as a nation around how it is we project this series, into the next series,” Hayden stated.

“Because in 2024, India come [to Australia] for the first five Test-match series. So they’ll be looking at all those factors, and they’ll also be concerned about why it is that they haven’t got options aplenty when it comes to replacing David Warner.

“I feel again to my time as effectively, and at the moment, there was myself, Greg Blewett, Matthew Elliott… there have been 4 or 5 actually nice choices with robust first-class performances over a protracted time period. So we’re at all times having to have a look at our first-class set-up, and the names which were at all times coming round have been [Marcus] Harris, [Matt] Renshaw – these names that are greater than able to producing good Test-match cricket.

“Australia has always been ruthless around turning over players. In my time, Mark Waugh – who could have played another 50-60 games – gave way to a young Hayden”

Matthew Hayden on Australia’s tradition in terms of transition

“But are they as good as Davey Warner? And the answer is, in their [selectors’] eyes, no. But sooner rather than later, their answer is going to have to be, ‘what is our next step?’ Now David’s saying that’s on his terms in Sydney, but I don’t think that’s necessarily what the Australian selectors will be thinking.”

Aaron Finch has retired, and whereas Cummins may need a number of years in him, Nathan Lyon at 35, may not. Usman Khawaja is 36 and Smith and Glenn Maxwell are 34. Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood are 33 and 32, respectively. Thus, the Australian selectors may have rather a lot to consider quickly.

“Australia has at all times been ruthless, although, round turning over gamers. In my time, Mark Waugh – who may have performed one other 50-60 video games – gave strategy to a younger Hayden. [That] gave me a chance to play 50-odd video games forward of a World Cup, and it paid dividends as a result of I nonetheless, a bit like Maxwell was saying, imagine that have does matter in a World Cup.

“When you’re under pressure, you’ve been away from home a long time, you’re in the cauldron of Kolkata or over in Chennai where we play India in the first game on the 8th [of October], if you’ve been there, and done it before, and a lot of these players have played extensive seasons of IPL cricket, [and] have had three or four, five, six, even seven tours of this country. And they’ve broken the back of India as well in India.

“The final sequence, I feel again in March, was 2-1 [in Australia’s favour]. So tons to show, but in addition I suppose on the opposite facet of it, youthful expertise and in addition unseen expertise can even blast away, and simply nobody’s actually seen them, they usually tackle the world and carry out on that stage.”