Will Australia become an average side once their legends retire?

[mominsaigol]

I made a thread on Indian cricket team on whether they would become an average side once their legends (Kohli, Rohit, Bumrah, Shami, Jadeja, Ashwin) retire.

Now it's time to make a thread about Australia. This may come as a supriae considering the Aussies just won an odi world cup for the 6th time, and went on the longest odi winning streak however recently they've been faltering with many elementary mistakes in the field as well as some of their legends getting old and are worn out.

In recent times it seems to be Travis head or bust for the team, so the question remains. Will Australia become an average team once their current legends retire? (Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, Nathan Lyon, Adam Zampa?)

In my opinion, I don't think batting will be affected, as new buds like Jake fraser will bloom eventually, but I do think Bowling will take a hit, Very difficult to find players who can develop into prime Starc, Pat Cummins etc)

 

[Local.Dada]

Australia has a very strong system. In the 80s they faced a similar crisis but then rebuilt their team. Similarly in the mid-late 90s, once again they were building a team.

After 2008 they hit a similar phase with multiple legends retiring.

They will keep plugging the gaps and rebuild.

They might struggle for 2-3 yrs but will be back up to the top of the chain.

 

[Buffet]

Nah, good domestic system will ensure that good players will keep coming.

 

[mominsaigol]

Australia has a very strong system. In the 80s they faced a similar crisis but then rebuilt their team. Similarly in the mid-late 90s, once again they were building a team.

After 2008 they hit a similar phase with multiple legends retiring.

They will keep plugging the gaps and rebuild.

They might struggle for 2-3 yrs but will be back up to the top of the chain.

Agreed, I've seen the system first hand. In terms of fitness, Hard work, Coaches their the top of the table. And will always remain top 3 best teams in the world

 

[Seam Specialist]

Agreed, I've seen the system first hand. In terms of fitness, Hard work, Coaches their the top of the table. And will always remain top 3 best teams in the world

Name me 5 players in domestic you feel that can be replacements for Smith, Hazelwood, Starc, Khawaja and Nathan Lyon. All of these players are going to be retiring in the next 1 to 3 years.

In reality, Australia can't even find a suitable replacement for Warner and have to push Travis Head to replace him as opener in Test even though that's not his role. There's a significant lack of talent in Australia's domestic at the moment.

Their Sheffield Shield standouts for the last 3 seasons includes the same old names of Bancroft, Handscome and Marcus Harris for batters and for bowlers it gets even worse, Nathan Mcandrew, Mark Steketee and Chris Tremain.

They have no young fast bowlers coming up and no young batters to replace the old, the next 5 years of Australian cricket will have to rely heavily upon Cummins and Labuschagne.

 

[Devadwal]

India, australia and some extent England won't become average sides just because great players retired .tbey simply have strong system to produce another great players to replace them.

 

[mominsaigol]

Name me 5 players in domestic you feel that can be replacements for Smith, Hazelwood, Starc, Khawaja and Nathan Lyon. All of these players are going to be retiring in the next 1 to 3 years.

In reality, Australia can't even find a suitable replacement for Warner and have to push Travis Head to replace him as opener in Test even though that's not his role. There's a significant lack of talent in Australia's domestic at the moment.

Their Sheffield Shield standouts for the last 3 seasons includes the same old names of Bancroft, Handscome and Marcus Harris for batters and for bowlers it gets even worse, Nathan Mcandrew, Mark Steketee and Chris Tremain.

They have no young fast bowlers coming up and no young batters to replace the old, the next 5 years of Australian cricket will have to rely heavily upon Cummins and Labuschagne.

Lol, You'd have said the same inn 2009 . Hindsight is a thing

 

[jnaveen1980]

Unlike your take on India, i say Australia have a good streamlined system. They just won the under-19 world cup after 14 years. They generally take time to evolve. Head, Hayden lot of these guys struggled initially then came back strongly. You just need eleven decent players. So population theory makes zero sense. There will be a lull much like India had post Dravid/Sachin/Laxman

 

[Buffet]

Name me 5 players in domestic you feel that can be replacements for Smith, Hazelwood, Starc, Khawaja and Nathan Lyon. All of these players are going to be retiring in the next 1 to 3 years.

In reality, Australia can't even find a suitable replacement for Warner and have to push Travis Head to replace him as opener in Test even though that's not his role. There's a significant lack of talent in Australia's domestic at the moment.

Their Sheffield Shield standouts for the last 3 seasons includes the same old names of Bancroft, Handscome and Marcus Harris for batters and for bowlers it gets even worse, Nathan Mcandrew, Mark Steketee and Chris Tremain.

They have no young fast bowlers coming up and no young batters to replace the old, the next 5 years of Australian cricket will have to rely heavily upon Cummins and Labuschagne.

And yet, Aus will be producing very good cricketers in the next 10 years. Domestic system is a good one.

Some thought that after McGrath/Gillespie/Warne retire Aus bolwing will be not lethal. But Cummins/Starc/Hazlewood/Lyon/Harris/Johnson .... Individually they are not as good as McGrath or Warne, but collectively Aus had one of the best bolwing sides in the last 10 years. Smith played in same era and he can be argued as the 2nd best Aus batsman to play for Aus.

Aus will keep producing good players due to great domestic system. Yes, there can be 2-3 years of gap some time, but over a period they will produce enough top class players.

 

[Seam Specialist]

Lol, You'd have said the same inn 2009 . Hindsight is a thing

Do you remember 2009? There was a plethora of young talented batsman in domestic including Khawaja,Steve Smith, Phil Hughes, Chris Rogers, Michael klinger, David Hussey, Ed Cowan and even Marcus North.

You can say in hindsight players like Smith, Khawaja and Chris Rogers were the gems of the lot but all these batman and significant runs and great averages to boast in domestic in 2009. Steve Smith averaged 77 in the 2009/10 season when he was only 20.

Currently, Australia doesn't have any of these young outstanding batters in their domestic. Can you name any? I'll be happy to be proved wrong, who is player that even remotely looks like he can be a good test batsman let alone a great batsman that is under the age of 25.

 

[Vikram1989]

Aus will keep producing good players due to great domestic system. Yes, there can be 2-3 years of gap some time, but over a period they will produce enough top class players.

Aus got whitewashed In 2013 ind tour. They ran ind close for their money in 2017 tour and won the series in 2014.lost 2013 ashes in eng and blanked them in next series.Few away tough tours will be lost in transition but will be up and running in 3 to 4 years again

 

[mominsaigol]

Do you remember 2009? There was a plethora of young talented batsman in domestic including Khawaja,Steve Smith, Phil Hughes, Chris Rogers, Michael klinger, David Hussey, Ed Cowan and even Marcus North.

You can say in hindsight players like Smith, Khawaja and Chris Rogers were the gems of the lot but all these batman and significant runs and great averages to boast in domestic in 2009. Steve Smith averaged 77 in the 2009/10 season when he was only 20.

Currently, Australia doesn't have any of these young outstanding batters in their domestic. Can you name any? I'll be happy to be proved wrong, who is player that even remotely looks like he can be a good test batsman let alone a great batsman that is under the age of 25.

Let's have this conversation in 5 years yeah?

 

[deltexas]

I made a thread on Indian cricket team on whether they would become an average side once their legends (Kohli, Rohit, Bumrah, Shami, Jadeja, Ashwin) retire.

Now it's time to make a thread about Australia. This may come as a supriae considering the Aussies just won an odi world cup for the 6th time, and went on the longest odi winning streak however recently they've been faltering with many elementary mistakes in the field as well as some of their legends getting old and are worn out.

In recent times it seems to be Travis head or bust for the team, so the question remains. Will Australia become an average team once their current legends retire? (Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, Nathan Lyon, Adam Zampa?)

In my opinion, I don't think batting will be affected, as new buds like Jake fraser will bloom eventually, but I do think Bowling will take a hit, Very difficult to find players who can develop into prime Starc, Pat Cummins etc)

The Aus domestic structure is strong - so Aus will never ever fall off the radar. The batting will always get pretty good substitutions. And will say the bowling unit they have had for a while - starc Cummins hazlewood zampa lyon - is one of the best in world cricket in a long time. And all are of similar age. Will be a tough gig to replace them. That probably would translate to Aus winning fewer ICC events ir not being as dominant in them as before. The next gen Aus bowlers are not on par with the above. Having said that- they will be in the top 3 atleast for the next 30 or will take a punt and say even 50 years!

All the future icc events will be won by one of these 3 teams - Aus eng ind. Any other team winning would be a one off upset. And within the next 10 years- i only see Aus eng ind playing test cricket with T20 being the major player

 

[mominsaigol]

Australia just suffered a humilating defeat at the hands of Pakistan in the recently concluded odi series.

A major cause of concern for Australia atm is that they lack resources to replace some of their aged and soon to be retired legends.

Their talent pool specifically in odi seems very depleted. To top it off they've been a crap fielding side for a while now with medicore displays of performance against England and Pakistan.

So where does Australia go from here? Is the team's golden era over?

 

[Varun]

Simple.

Complete the expected 5-0 whitewash of India, and nobody will remember this ODI series.

 

[Mrjungshook]

While it does appear that the old era of absolute dominance may be over, Australia has reinvented itself before. A more challenging period, like the current one, doesn’t necessarily mean the golden era is gone permanently. Australia could still turn things around by focusing on the right mix of emerging talent, adapting tactics, and addressing their weaknesses head-on.

While the journey back to the top may be slow, there’s always potential for revival—especially in cricketing cultures as strong as Australia’s.
Challenges:
Aging Legends and Gaps in Talent Pool: Historically, Australia had a seamless transition between generations of players. However, the current crop of emerging players hasn’t quite reached the level expected to replace the likes of David Warner, Steve Smith, or Mitchell Starc. In the past, Australia’s depth has been a major strength, but this depth appears to be thinning in recent years, especially in ODIs.
Lack of Strong All-Rounders: Australia’s dominance in ODIs often relied on a mix of specialists and all-rounders who could step up in critical situations. Players like Shane Watson, Michael Bevan, and even Andrew Symonds (back in the day) brought a balance that allowed tactical flexibility, a quality that’s currently missing.

 

[jeeteshssaxena]

Let's have this conversation in 5 years yeah?

Why have you made this thread asking a question when you already are so confident that Aus won’t have any problem?

You are responding with the above quote for posters who think otherwise.

 

[mominsaigol]

Why have you made this thread asking a question when you already are so confident that Aus won’t have any problem?

You are responding with the above quote for posters who think otherwise.

 

[kron]

I made a thread on Indian cricket team on whether they would become an average side once their legends (Kohli, Rohit, Bumrah, Shami, Jadeja, Ashwin) retire.

Now it's time to make a thread about Australia. This may come as a supriae considering the Aussies just won an odi world cup for the 6th time, and went on the longest odi winning streak however recently they've been faltering with many elementary mistakes in the field as well as some of their legends getting old and are worn out.

In recent times it seems to be Travis head or bust for the team, so the question remains. Will Australia become an average team once their current legends retire? (Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, Nathan Lyon, Adam Zampa?)

In my opinion, I don't think batting will be affected, as new buds like Jake fraser will bloom eventually, but I do think Bowling will take a hit, Very difficult to find players who can develop into prime Starc, Pat Cummins etc)

ZERO chance of that happening.

They will always be a topside.

Strong school system

Strong cricket administration.

Strong network to build a pipeline of players.

They may not be as dominant as they were between 99 to 06 in odi and tests.

And they may not be dominant in winning tourneys despite not being the absolute best team like they did between 2015 to 2023 but they will still be top 3 in Tests and honestly top 2 in odi. T20 yea don't think they will dominant there ever tbh.

I am worries cause of ipl money Indian players will focus mostly on t20 and odi . Do well there and neglect tests. That's my concern.

 

[shaz619]

Australia are like so far ahead of most teams even in defeat, like who would have given an opportunity to their reserve squad in a decider ? Australia have a robust set-up but they always keep one eye on the future and instil that never say die spirit within their talent pool from an early stage. They recognise the modern demands and are flexible in executing their vision. At worst, I see Australia rebuilding for 2-3 years max and then getting back to the top. Whereas with Pakistan, they are rebuilding every month

 

[jeeteshssaxena]

@mominsaigol on topic,

I think they are up for atleast 3-4 years of drop in performance.

People here have forgotten that Australia actually struggled for some time around 2010 after which new plaers started emerging.

They lost an Ashes in home conditions after 25 years !, lost three back to back ashes. Lost two back to back home series vs SA.

Their bowling lineup was spearheaded by the likes of Siddle, Hilfenhaus and at that time a very hit or miss Mitchell Johnson.

Another thing is when the likes of Hayden, Gilchrist, Warne, Mcgrath, Ponting were at their last stages young talents like M Clarke, S Katich, M Johnson, Shane Watson were there and had already established themselves. The current Australian team has no youngster who has established himself apart from T Head who himself is a 41 averaging batsman after 50 tests.

As for fast bowling stocks, they have been relying on Cummins (31), hazelwood(34) and Starc (35) for 10 years straight, they have Boland (aged 35) in reserve who is even older than all of them. Australian cricket is up for a 3-4 year dip at the very least and it will commence around the end of 2025.

 

[Hyder]

Bowlers ll emerge. Batsman ll find hard to fit in intl cricket as its completely different to leagues

 

[Romali_rotti]

There will always be a transition phase once players like Steve Smith the current international quick bowlers etc retire.

They will struggle but will pick it up again, aus domestic structure is very strong so they will be back. Only a matter of time.

 

[mominsaigol]

@mominsaigol on topic,

I think they are up for atleast 3-4 years of drop in performance.

People here have forgotten that Australia actually struggled for some time around 2010 after which new plaers started emerging.

They lost an Ashes in home conditions after 25 years !, lost three back to back ashes. Lost two back to back home series vs SA.

Their bowling lineup was spearheaded by the likes of Siddle, Hilfenhaus and at that time a very hit or miss Mitchell Johnson.

Another thing is when the likes of Hayden, Gilchrist, Warne, Mcgrath, Ponting were at their last stages young talents like M Clarke, S Katich, M Johnson, Shane Watson were there and had already established themselves. The current Australian team has no youngster who has established himself apart from T Head who himself is a 41 averaging batsman after 50 tests.

As for fast bowling stocks, they have been relying on Cummins (31), hazelwood(34) and Starc (35) for 10 years straight, they have Boland (aged 35) in reserve who is even older than all of them. Australian cricket is up for a 3-4 year dip at the very least and it will commence around the end of 2025.

I agree with this