Rockets to Fall Short?

Will CA ground D'Arcy Short?

CA may pull plug on The Hundred.

Peter Lalor.

The Australian.

Wednesday, 8 January 2020.

PTG 2993-14841.

The England and Wales Cricket Board’s (EWCB) shiny new domestic cricket format may be about to lose some of its big name players with Cricket Australia (CA) expected to announce its stars will be needed at home for a One Day International (ODI) series against Zimbabwe at the same time.  The EWCB innovation known as The Hundred — 100-ball tournament in England and Wales consisting of eight city-based franchise teams — features ten Australian cricketers, most of whom demanded top dollar in an October draft.

Glenn Maxwell, Aaron Finch, Mitchell Starc, David Warner and D’Arcy Short all landed contracts worth $A236,000 (£UK123,505), while Chris Lynn, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Dan Christian and Adam Zampa were picked up for smaller amounts.  Finch, Starc, Warner and Zampa are all in the one day squad that leaves for India for a three-match series on Thursday and would expect to be dragged away for home duties instead of playing the EWCB’s domestic tournament if they clash.

Maxwell is not in the ODI squad at this time, but is never far from selection. Nor is Short, who scored a century in his last Big Bash League match for the Hurricanes.  Andrew McDonald, Australian coach Justin Langer’s senior assistant, could be in an awkward spot as he signed to coach the Birmingham Phoenix franchise in the competition before he accepted a job with the Australian team.

CA is understood to be still negotiating with Zimbabwe about the exact dates for the one-day series in the top end of Australia around July-August, the 'dry season' in that region. As it stands it would have a significant impact on player availability for The Hundred, but there is a move to shift the tour back.

The Australian calendar is relentless this year with 18 limited over games and two Tests in five countries over the next six months. In India next week they will play three one-day games in five days.  There is a period at home after that series before they head out to play three Twenty20 Internationals (T20I) and three ODIs in South Africa.

They then come home again for three ODI matches against New Zealand before going there for a series of three T20Is at the end of March. There are two Tests scheduled for mid-year in Bangladesh followed by three ODIs against England in July.

The Australians then must prepare themselves to host the T20 World Cup in October-November before shifting to Test mode for a one-off game against Afghanistan and a four-Test series against India. Some reports suggest the Australians will only be available for the first few games of The Hundred. There was also a suggestion the Zimbabwe series would only stop the players participating in the last few games.