As Australia decided not to replace the injured Ashton
Agar like-for-like, Glenn Maxwell has been tipped to fill the position of a
frontline spinner at the World Cup. Instead, they substituted Marnus
Labuschagne, who will serve as batting cover while Travis Head heals from his
fractured hand.
Given that Steven Smith hardly bowls any longer, and
Labuschagne’s legspin has gotten worse in recent years, Maxwell and Adam Zampa
are Australia’s only two legitimate spin options among their 14 healthy
players. Should Head be able to recuperate and bowl, his offspin would be a
useful option.
There is yet to be a specific target for Head’s
comeback, but he isn’t expected to be available until at least midway through
the group stage.
“Think it’s unfair on Maxi to say he’s not a
specialist spinner,” Bailey said. “Think his white-ball spinning record
is pretty handy and you could very much consider him a frontline option. We
certainly consider that we have two frontline spinners within our first-choice
XI.
“More broadly across the squad, when you are
limited to 15 [players], there are compromises that you have to weigh up [and]
which way to want to take a risk. That was all the considerations that we had
to take. We certainly think that Zamps and Maxi can do a really good job for us
as the frontline spinners and we’ve still got plenty of options for quicks and
back-up allrounders.”
Bailey applauded Maxwell for the preparation he has
done for the competition, but he did make the suggestion that there might be
moments when he is given a respite from the more demanding fielding positions
he has typically held.
“Glenn’s been so dynamic across his one-day
career, not only his ability with bat and ball but just the positions he puts
himself in the field. So there’s been a high workload there,” Bailey said.
“There may be games here – and not just this tournament, but maybe Glenn
for the rest of his career – where he doesn’t have to go to the hot spots, or
he might have some games where we can find some quieter spots for him in the
field. That’s something we’ll weigh up from game to game.
“From mapping out with Glenn…what the build-up
to this tournament would look like, he’s done a power of work around trying to
get some strength and functionality back into that leg. Fingers crossed that’s
all tracking well.”