Paceman Josh Hazlewood admits the leadership and batting qualities of Steve Smith, as well as the power hitting of Jake Fraser-McGurk, would have been handy at the T20 World Cup, but he says there was simply no room for either of them in Australia’s 15-man squad.
The decision to leave out 34-year-old former captain Smith and excitement machine Fraser-McGurk from the Australian squad from next month’s tournament in the Caribbean and the US has caused plenty of selection debate.
Hazelwood said both could have played major roles for Australia, and captain Mitch Marsh would miss Smith’s guidance.
“Probably some like ‘Marshy’ will miss him being captain and just having another player on the field like ‘Smudge’ (Smith) who you can just turn to at any time and get his advice,” the bowler said from a Brisbane training camp on Monday.
“Obviously (there are) his batting and fielding as well. The conditions potentially could have suited his game and it’s always like picking up the pieces from a bad start is his job, but I think the way we’ve seen him bat for the (Sydney) Sixers (in the BBL), there’s a spot at the top as well, but, you just can’t squeeze everyone in.”
Hazelwood said it was the same for the 22-year-old Fraser-McGurk, who has starred in the IPL for Dehli.
“The way he goes about it is quite special, just the ball striking,” he said of Fraser-McGurk.
“I guess it’s just the same thing. Where do you fit him in? It’s so tough to fit in that top order with what we’ve got there with experience with Travis (Head), Mitch (Marsh) and Davey (Warner) in the top three, and then the middle order’s pretty good as well.
“He’ll definitely get his time. He’s only young. He’ll be in the team sooner rather than later.”
Hazlewood’s World Cup preparations haven’t included an IPL stint, with the 33-year-old fast bowler having remained in Australia following the recent birth of his baby son Zac.
And he admitted it had probably been a blessing to be absent from the IPL, where the introduction of the “impact” player rule had led to more punishment for bowlers and scores of more than 200 becoming the norm rather than the exception.
“I think it’s just purely down to that impact player,” Hazlewood said.
“Batting line-ups seem to be never-ending now, I’m not sure it’s a great rule.
“You got guys like (Australian star) Tim David at number eight, sometimes number nine, and it just sort of seems never-ending and you don’t really feel like to attack and try and get wickets in the power play because what’s the point when you got those guys coming in at those eight and nine spots.
“It’s an interesting role. Obviously, the crowd loves it. There are 200-plus scores every night and it’s good for batters but might need a bit of tinkering.”