TOPIC:

Steve Smith has called time on his ODI career.
I don't think that white ball cricket has been his best format, but has been such a good player that he had to be selected.
An amazing cricketer.
And while on Smudge, I have to congratulate him for the way he handle the leadership during hte Sri Lankan tour and the ODI WC.
I think he was outstanding on all three forms holding the helm.
Australian cricket will be sadly missing one of our greatest players when he decides to leave the CA nest.
I though his handling of Connolly with the ball was outstanding, He made sure that Connolly was kept in the game and had no time to think about his innings.
 

Yeah I think he made the call to prolong his test career as the next major 50 over event is the 2027 World Cup. I think he led the Aussie team well in this tournament. I certainly didnt expect them to make the semi final and but for a few poor periods in the semi, they may have caused an upset. Smiths leadership and tactics were big factors in their success
He may be looking at next years ashes to be his swansong

mikeh wrote:

Yeah I think he made the call to prolong his test career as the next major 50 over event is the 2027 World Cup. I think he led the Aussie team well in this tournament. I certainly didnt expect them to make the semi final and but for a few poor periods in the semi, they may have caused an upset. Smiths leadership and tactics were big factors in their success
He may be looking at next years ashes to be his swansong

I am thinking he is looking at his life in T 20 competitions around the world for a few years after test retirement..
You could very well be right on his last series.
Be a great way to go out, smashing the Poms 5 zip.

I think there will be a few more to follow, I think i read on Wednesday that even with the inexperienced players Australia's age average was close to 30 for Tuesday nights game

Probably time for Maxwell, Marnus, Marsh, Starc, , Hazelwood, to all hand over the baton and we try to find the next team that can be competitive on this stage

I think Head and Short at the top is good, I think we have gaps at 3 and 4, and while they did ok i am not sure we can play 2 keepers in the top 6. 

Connelly is a middle order slogger, and where in the hell do we have spinners that cant bat, Zampa and Sanga batting 10 and Jack is laughable, especially when they are not devastating wicket takers.

The gaps are the quality batter to hold the order together and also the all rounders that can take wickets and score runs like India have. Maybe Cam Green can fill one of these roles but his bowling days will be on hold for a while i reckon

What Australia's 2027 World Cup squad could look like - This is from cricket.com website(age in October 2027 in brackets)

Pat Cummins (c) (34), Travis Head (33), Matthew Short (31), Cameron Green (28), Josh Inglis (32), Marnus Labuschagne (33), Alex Carey (36), Mitchell Owen (26), Xavier Bartlett (28), Nathan Ellis (33), Adam Zampa (35), Aaron Hardie (28), Cooper Connolly (24), Spencer Johnson (31), Harry Dixon (22). Reserve: Tanveer Sangha (25)