Australia spin great Shane Warne talks tough after team’s eight-wicket defeat to arch-rivals England; slams Aaron Finch & Co for poor strategy and tactics
Australia players after the fall of an England wicket. Pic/Getty Images
Australia’s capitulation to England in the ICC T20 World Cup Super 12 game here has left one of the country’s legends, Shane Warne, demanding wholesale changes in the team. Disappointed with the eight-wicket loss, the spin wizard took to social media to flay the side’s selection, saying that, Australia need to change the team, and added that poor strategy and tactics had led the side down.
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Australia could put only 125 on the board with Chris Jordan accounting for three wickets—that of skipper Aaron Finch (44), Steve Smith (1) and Pat Cummins (12)—while Chris Woakes had the dangerous opener David Warner for one run, and also got the prized wicket of T20 specialist Glenn Maxwell (6). In reply, England wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler singlehandedly guided his side to victory, scoring a masterful unbeaten 71 off 32 deliveries to finish the contest in 11.4 overs.
In a series of tweets on Sunday, the spin wizard said, “Disappointing selection from Australia leaving [Mitch] Marsh out and [Glenn] Maxwell batting in the power play [he should always come in after power play]. [Marcus] Stoinis should have gone in. Poor strategy and tactics from the Aussies. I love [Steve] Smith but he shouldn’t be in the T20 team. [Mitch] Marsh has to be!!”
Shane Warne
Warne also praised the brand of cricket played by England, saying, “Proper T20 cricket that from England! Australia will hopefully learn how they need to play after that smashing they copped from the Poms. Pakistan & England are showing how to play T20 cricket. Australia need to change their thinking re style of play plus the team!!!”
However, Australian skipper Aaron Finch did not agree with Warne’s logic that Mitch Marsh would have made the difference had he been included in the side ahead of Smith. Finch also defended his decision to send Maxwell in the powerplay. “Maxwell going in in the powerplay, when you’ve only got six specialist batters, you’re backing your top-six to get the job done, so there’s no issue there. Maxy (Maxwell) has done extremely well in the past; he’s as destructive as anyone if he gets through the powerplay, so that’s okay,” said Finch.
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