Since the ODI World Cup 2023, the Australian fast bowling trio have played just one 50-over match together.
The landscape of international cricket has evolved. For most players, leagues supersede national teams. Nicholas to prioritise franchise cricket, aka making more money. Most cricket boards realise they’ll lose some of the best cricketers if they don’t allow them to play in T20 leagues.
Cricket Australia (CA) is also trying to tip that line. Players like Marcus Stoinis are no longer interested in a central contract and make themselves available sparingly. CA knows the big stars can outearn their annual salary at just one tournament, the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Challenge of juggling franchise & international cricket
Australia’s head coach, Andrew McDonald, believes managing players, i.e., convincing them to play for Australia in between major Test series or ICC events like the upcoming ODI World Cup 2027, will be a challenge. CA and other big cricket boards realise the cricket year for them is basically 10 months, with April and May basically reserved for the IPL.
“That’s going to be the biggest challenge. How do we get the players through that demand? How do we manage them, in particular our fast bowlers. I don’t know whether I can say this publicly, because they might have a crack at me, but we are getting older. So that’s going to create some different management challenges. They’ve been incredibly robust, a lot of those players, and then a few had a few recent hiccups, so it’s something that we need to invest a lot of time into, and equally the batters,” McDonald told reporters before departing for Pakistan.
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Barring a couple of English players and Pakistanis, who aren’t allowed to play, all major cricketers flock to India for the biggest cricket tournament in the world. CA needs to manage players like Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, and Josh Hazlewood, all of whom are ageing fast bowlers and don’t have many years left. The pace trio turned up for IPL 2026, despite all managing injuries.
In recent years, all three have had troubles with injuries. By the time the ODI World Cup arrives, Starc, Hazlewood, and Cummins will be 37, 36, and 34. Moreover, the 50-over format has started to become obsolete to some extent. In fact, the pace trio has played just 22 ODIs between them and just one together since the 2023 edition of the tournament.
Workload management essential
McDonald made it clear that all three want to play the ODI World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia. However, since they are ageing, their priority might be to earn more, especially Starc and Hazlewood, since they are older. It’s one of the reasons why the former retired from T20Is. The Aussie coach also defended the pace trio for playing in Bangladesh and Pakistan from May to June, adding that all need rest to keep themselves fit for 2027.