Babar’s retort after $420k BBL fiasco; Smith selection spectre as team revamp looms — Talking Pts

Australia will ramp up its T20 World Cup preparation this week with a three-match white-ball series against Pakistan in the subcontinent.

With a cluster of first-choice players unavailable due to injury or workload management, a handful of rising stars will get an opportunity to step up their absence, including the uncapped trio of Mahli Beardman, Jack Edwards and Matthew Renshaw.

Elsewhere, fringe players Sean Abbott, Mitch Owen and Ben Dwarshuis will get one final chance to press their case for an eleventh-hour T20 World Cup call-up.

The first T20 between Pakistan and Australia gets underway in Lahore on Thursday at 10pm AEDT.

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MOMENT THAT PROVED 20YO QUICK WAS READY

There was a moment early in this summer’s Big Bash which signalled to former Australian all-rounder Brendon Julian that Perth Scorchers youngster Mahli Beardman was ready for international cricket.

During the first ball of the Thunder’s run chase against the Scorchers in Sydney, rival captain David Warner whipped Beardman’s first delivery over fine leg for six, immediately heaping pressure on the 20-year-old.

But the right-armed quick was unfazed by Warner’s first-ball maximum, immediately responding with seven consecutive dot balls before the Australian great’s dismissal in the seventh over, falling to Beardman for 25.

Julian, on Fox Cricket commentary at the time, was immensely impressed with how Beardman bounced back.

“I said straight away, ‘This guy is good … his temperament is very good, his action’s great,’” Julian told Fox Cricket’s The Follow-On Podcast last week.

“I actually think he’s a 50-over bowler, I think he can be in the one-day side for Australia and certainly hold his line and length.

“I reckon he’s got great accuracy, and that’s very rare for a guy who can bowl 145km/h.

“He’s got a really tidy and simple action, so from that point of view, I think he can progress quite nicely.”

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Beardman finished the T20 tournament with 13 wickets at 22.38, helping the Scorchers win their sixth BBL title. During the Qualifier, he removed Sixers superstar Steve Smith with a well-directed bouncer that was miscued towards deep fine leg, which he later described as the “pinnacle” of his fledgling career.

He had become the youngest cricketer to dismiss Smith in Big Bash history.

National selectors rewarded Beardman by naming him in Australia’s squad for the T20 tour of Pakistan. The West Australian had previously earned selection for white-ball series against England in 2024 and India last year, but with the likes of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Ellis unavailable due to injury, the door is open for an international debut.

“He bowls quite well on flat wickets,” Julian continued.

“In Pakistan, on subcontinent wickets, you need someone that’s got speed through the air.

“He’s quite tall, he hits that back of a length, so I think he could bowl well on subcontinent conditions.”

MAXWELL’S HEIR APPARENT GETS HIS TIME TO SHINE

In the absence of Glenn Maxwell, West Australian all-rounder Cooper Connolly will get an opportunity in Pakistan to fulfill a role that the T20 superstar has held for more than a decade.

Maxwell was not selected for the three-match tour of Pakistan due to workload management, leaving a gaping hole in Australia’s middle order.

And despite an underwhelming Big Bash campaign with the willow, Connolly will get a chance to prove his worth as Maxwell’s heir apparent in the subcontinent this week.

Having already made his Australian debut across all three formats, the 22-year-old cemented his status as a star in the making with a match-winning 61 not out against India at Adelaide Oval in October, also claiming a five-wicket haul during an ODI triumph against South Africa in August.

Connolly’s potential has been identified overseas, snapped up by the Punjab Kings during this summer’s IPL Auction for 3 crore (AU$497,000).

However, after starting the tournament with consecutive fifties, the Scorchers all-rounder finished the Big Bash with 209 runs at 139.33, dismissed for single digits on seven occasions across the tournament.

While the talent is undeniable, Australia will be hoping Connolly lives up to his potential over the coming weeks, with his tweakers a handy weapon to unleash on India’s slow decks.

“Cooper Connolly has been the most improved bowler in the BBL,” Julian said.

“He should be in the team no matter what … his bowling is really really handy. A left-armed spinner in subcontinent conditions is always very good to take.”

BABAR’S CHANCE AT REDEMPTION AFTER BIG BASH FLOP

Babar Azam has earned selection in Pakistan’s T20 squad to face Australia despite his Big Bash struggles, while there was no room in the 16-player squad for fast bowler Haris Rauf.

The 31-year-old Azam was dropped from Pakistan’s T20 team last year due to a sluggish strike rate in the game’s shortest format, missing selection for the recent Asia Cup.

Signed by the Sydney Sixers on a $420,000 platinum contract, Azam got his maiden Big Bash campaign off to a promising start by cracking fifties against the Thunder in December and the Renegades on New Year’s Day.

However, the right-hander was dismissed for single figures on six occasions across 11 matches, accumulating 202 runs at 22.44. He only cleared the boundary rope three times throughout the T20 campaign, while his tournament strike rate of 103.06 is the lowest in Big Bash history (minimum 200 runs).

Azam skipped the Sixers’ final two matches, returning to Pakistan to “commence preparations for upcoming international matches”, ironically against an Australian team that features Sixers teammates he abandoned.

“Babar’s been a world-class player for a long period of time,” Australian captain Mitchell Marsh said on Wednresday.

“We know in these conditions he’s one of the best in the world still.”

Named in Pakistan’s T20 World Cup squad, Azam will be desperate to boost his scoring rate and avoid any further scrutiny ahead of the ICC tournament, which gets underway next week.

“My wish is to do a press conference one day and no one asks about Babar,” Pakistan captain Salman Agha told reporters on Wednesday.

Elsewhere, Rauf was once again snubbed from Pakistan’s T20 squad despite an impressive Big Bash campaign with the Melbourne Stars, finishing the tournament as the competition’s leading wicket-taker with 20 scalps at 16.75.

The 32-year-old has not been picked for a T20I since last year’s Asia Cup final against India, when he conceded 0-50 across 3.4 costly overs. It was a potentially career-ending performance for the right-armed speedster.

AUSSIE TOP-ORDER UNDER PRESSURE AFTER SMITH BLITZ

Pressure will mount on national selectors to parachute Steve Smith into the T20 World Cup squad if Australia’s top order can’t step up against Pakistan this week.

Smith stole the spotlight during the second half of this summer’s Big Bash after thumping 299 runs at 59.80 across six matches for the Sydney Sixers, including a century against cross-town rivals the Thunder at the SCG.

Despite the champion batter’s blistering white-ball form, he still missed selection for this week’s three-match series against Pakistan, having been previously omitted from Australia’s preliminary T20 World Cup squad.

Captain Mitchell Marsh and opening partner Travis Head will face the new ball in Smith’s absence, with Victoria’s Matt Short another option at the top of the order.

Marsh enjoyed a successful Big Bash campaign, helping the Scorchers win their sixth title with 360 runs at 30.00, while Head hasn’t played any professional cricket since the New Year’s Ashes Test at the SCG.

Australia is permitted to make changes to its T20 World Cup squad until a week before the tournament, a deadline of January 31, and calls to inject Smith into the touring party will only grow in volume should anyone in the top three struggle against Pakistan.

“He’s the best player in the competition at the moment,” former Australian batter Mark Waugh told Fox Cricket earlier this month.

“He definitely should be in the Australian team (for the T20 World Cup). He’d be in front of a lot of the players that have been picked on form alone.

“If we want to win it, he’s got to be in it.”

There also remains a possibility for Smith to replace a member of the injured quartet of Tim David, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins or Nathan Ellis should one of them be ruled out of the tournament, although none of them would be considered a like-for-like replacement.

SIXERS ALL-ROUNDER’S METEORIC RISE CONTINUES

It’s been a whirlwind couple of months for Jack Edwards.

On the back of some impressive domestic form, the New South Wales all-rounder earned a maiden national call-up for October’s ODI series against India, carrying drinks during the series finale at the SCG.

A few weeks later, Edwards was snapped up by the Sunrisers Hyderabad on a 3 crore (AU$497,000) contract at the IPL auction, prompting a massive spike in Google searches for the 25-year-old.

Edwards’ meteoric rise continued with a maiden national T20 call-up for this week’s Pakistan tour, while he’s a strong chance of making his Australian debut in the subcontinent.

Since making his Sheffield Shield debut in 2018, Edwards slipped in and out of the Blues starting XI across the following five summers due to inconsistent form, struggling to live up to expectations.

But since establishing himself as a verified all-rounder, Edwards has put himself firmly on the national radar, recently awarded the Steve Waugh Medal, New South Wales cricket’s top gong for men’s player of the season.

The right-armer was the second-leading wicket-taker of this summer’s BBL with 19 scalps at 18.47, named in the team of the tournament having helped the Sydney Sixers qualify for the decider.

However, Edwards is seemingly in a battle with Hobart Hurricanes hero Mitchell Owen for the all-rounder role in Australia’s T20 squad whenever veteran Marcus Stoinis decides to hang up the boots. There may not be room for both of them in the starting XI moving forward.