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In Matthew Hayden’s opinion, Australia has to make a
change at the top of the order and move Marnus Labuschagne, who is now at No.
4, to No. 4 and give Cameron Green a free hand to play as the opener.
Prior to the ODI World Cup, it seemed as though
Australia had abandoned pairing Labuschagne and Steven Smith together in the
middle order. However, after Travis Head broke his hand and Labuschagne
returned to the lineup while dealing with multiple injuries and played some
stunning innings in South Africa, it became clear that Australia had not.
Labuschagne currently has Australia’s best average of
37.66, despite only having three innings to work with. However, he is striking
the ball at just 64.57, which contrasts with the form he brought into the
competition, when in eight games against South Africa and India, he had
averaged 60.14 with a strike rate of 97.67, earning praise from coach Andrew
McDonald and national selector George Bailey for the quickened pace in his
game.
“I don’t think it does,” Hayden told when asked if pairing Smith and Labuschagne together works.
“I don’t think they’ll change things either. To me, they have got a front
anchor out and a back anchor out and the innings goes nowhere because they are
both well and truly stable.
“It’s fine to have one stabiliser, I think it’s
really important to have a mind like Steve Smith at the top of the order when
you start to set totals or chase totals, you need that computer mind, but when
you have two of them in a row, I think it creates pressure through the top six
so I’d make a change there.”
Hayden claimed that opening may release the shackles
with Mitchell Marsh moving to No. 3 followed by Smith at No. 4, but Green was
dropped during the opening game against India amid a spell in which he has
failed to establish form with the bat. Smith has consistently stated that his
favoured position is No. 3, where he averages 52.60 in ODIs.
“Give him a licence, Cam Green at the top,”
he said. “To me, he’s a kid who hasn’t necessarily found his tempo in any
format of the game but what we saw here during the IPL is that Mumbai Indians
just sent him out and said, kid, just smash it.
“He’s got huge levers, got great scoring
abilities. Not so good when it comes to playing spin through the middle but by
that stage if he’s smashed Pakistan for 70 or 80, he’s done his job.