Pat Cummins and his men may not know it yet but the chances of Australia’s victorious World Cup XI playing together again are close to zero.
None of Australia’s five other champion sides did. You have to go back to 1996 to find a World Cup-winning side on the same team sheet again. The fact Sri Lanka were involved in a tri-series two weeks later would have been a significant factor.
Australia won a sixth World Cup in India. Who will be back for the title defence in 2027?Credit: Getty Images
The adage if you’re not moving forward, you’re moving backward fits hand in glove with managing a team in the World Cup cycle.
Australia fielded 38 different players in the 55 matches from the end of the 2019 World Cup to last week’s final, taking until the 50th game in that period to find the XI that would take them to the sixth title. The final was just their third game as an XI.
With 35 games slated in the future tours program between now and the 2027 World Cup in Africa, they will likely churn through a similar number of personnel again.
Selectors this time face the added challenge of managing generational change. Only four players from this year’s squad are under 30.
The likelihood of more than one of David Warner (41 in 2027), Steve Smith (38), Mitchell Starc (37), Glenn Maxwell (39) or Josh Hazlewood (36) making it back in four years’ time is less than 50-50, but you wouldn’t write any of them off just yet. The chances of Starc and Hazlewood returning rise if they have retired from Tests.
With assistance of industry sources familiar with the talent pool in Australia, this masthead has taken a crack at what a possible XI could look like for the title defence, and some of the names – obvious and obscure – selectors will look at.
The Bison, the speed demon, and the fringe-dweller: Who will defend Australia’s World Cup title in 2027?
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Pat Cummins and his men may not know it yet but the chances of Australia’s victorious World Cup XI playing together again are close to zero.
None of Australia’s five other champion sides did. You have to go back to 1996 to find a World Cup-winning side on the same team sheet again. The fact Sri Lanka were involved in a tri-series two weeks later would have been a significant factor.
Australia won a sixth World Cup in India. Who........
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