2024 for Australia

Following on from the twin success in 2023, the WTC victory and the ODI World Cup victory, Australia in 2024 wasn’t that much different. Yes, they do not have any ICC trophy to showcase but that is only because there weren’t any. I mean, ofcourse, with the exception of the T20 World Cup. Australia are not yet a force in the shortest format. Who is to say that in the event of an ICC tournament in 2024, Test or ODI, Australia would not have won that one too? Australia have made it a habit of winning ICC tournaments for fun. Under Cummins, though they have not become all-conquering side, they have become a solid unit. Cummins himself leads from the front quite often. Even with the bat. Post captaincy, Cummins has become the hardest tailender to dismiss.

High of the season

The series win against India. They were crushed in the first Test at Perth. Questions were asked about certain players. Marsh, Labuschagne and Smith. There were calls to drop all of them. Though Marsh fell by the wayside, Labuschagne and Smith asserted themselves in an emphatic fashion. Labuschagne did not score a hundred but his innings at Melbourne where he protected Cummins from Bumrah was vital in Australia securing the win. Smith with a couple of hundreds.

After a gap of 10 years, Australia regained the Border Gavaskar Trophy, en event that the Australians themselves defined as among the greatest of their careers. It is understandable because this Australian team is many faultlines. It needed an Indian team with even more faultlines to perform so poorly that Australia never had to raise their game once. Nevetheless, in a season where the major attraction was the series against India and the T20 World Cup, winning the series against India must be counted as the high of the season.

Low of the season

It was undoubtedly, the shock defeat to the West Indies at the Gabba. One can say that Australia were too complacent against them. Having whitewashed Pakistan the previous week, Australia were expected to topple West Indies rather easily. This game has often proved that if you take things lightly, it will always comeback to bite you. This was what exactly happened with Australia too. On a ground where they did not lose a single Test for 39 years, suddenly has become where they have not won a Test in 4 years. 2021 loss to India followed by the loss to West Indies in 2024 and the drawn Test against India later in the year.

Steve Smith convinced himself and everyone else that he could open the innings. As he found out, he was a total misfit at that position. Just a sole score of more than 50 in over 10 innings. Better sense prevailed and Smith was back in the middle order from where he scored a couple of match-winning hundreds. After this, I don’t think Smith will ever open for Australia again. His place is in the middle-order and he better stick to it.

The failure to qualify for the knock-outs in the T20 World Cup will also rankle the Aussies. Cummins is not the captain of their T20 side. It is Mathew Wade. It is time to handover the captaincy of T20 to Cummins for him to conjure some magic.

Best Performer

Cummins ofcourse. Not just captaincy, but his contribution with the bat and ball is unparalleled in current scenario. If the top and middle order have collapsed, do not worry. Cummins is there to not just block one end but he will also score constantly. If there is a batsman at the otherend, Cummins will be at his dour best. Supporting him throughout. If the other bowlers are not able to pick up wickets or stem the flow of runs. Enter Cummins, the gladiator. Whenever and wherever Cummins has been called into action, to salvage the situation, he has delivered.

Captaincy has elevated his performance to greater heights. Infact, with a little bit of luck, he could have even won the IPL trophy last year. In a tournament where scores of 260 was the norm, Cummins was quite economical.

Worst Performer

Khawaja, Smith, Labuschagne, Marsh. Smith and Labuschagne were able to turnaround their fortune. It can be safely assumed that if Australia had lost the series to India, all of 4 would have been dropped. Ofcourse, Marsh was still dropped and replaced by someone who could be a vital cog in the wheel for Australia in the near and slightly distant future. Beau Webster has taken to the game like a fish to the water.

Wrapping up 2024 for Australia

Overall, 2024 has been a decent one for Australia in all forms of the game. The sore exception being the inability to reach the knockouts at the T20 World Cup. Otherwise, they have done quite well enough to be considered as the number one team among equals.