Will the Australian team be the same after the retirement of these greats?

[Kohli The King of Chase]

These are the ages of the current players (all 3 formats)

D Warner/ ~36
A Finch/ ~36
U Khawaja/ 35
N Lyon/ ~35
G Maxwell/ 34
M Wade/ 34
S Smith/ 33
M Stoinis/ 33
M Starc/ 32
J Hazelwood/ ~32
P Cummins/ 29
M Labuschagne/ 28

Apart from Marnus & Cummins all others are on the wrong side of 30s, especially the batsmen. Australia did and would always have a really good pace attack. But can they find the replacements of these great batsmen and the legend spinner.

The one and only great batsman in the line up who is young (Labu-Shane), he’s from South Africa.

There’s lot of events coming up for these batsmen to hang up their boots

2022 T20I WC at home (Finch and Wade have hinted retirements)
2023 WC (Warner, Maxwell, Stoinis and Smith might say goodbye to 50 overs)
2023 Ashes in England (Warner has hinted his retirement, and possibly Khawaja too)

And the cash rich leagues like IPL, ILT20, CSAT20 would only hasten their decision. We already saw in last few weeks what’s going on with the ACB and the players


So, would the Australian team see a drastic and sudden slump in their performances after 2 years, or will they manage to be the top 3 team as they always have

 

[Mesozoic]

Same question was asked when Gilly , Hayden, Ponting, McGrath, Warne, Lee, Gillespie etc were getting close to "retirement ages". Australia has a strong domestic setup and Cricket is still quite popular (atleast in terms of participation numbers) over there so they will keep churning out decent to good international cricketers.

If South Africa can, then Australia definitely will.

 

[sweep_shot]

Australia have a robust system in place. They shouldn't have problems in finding replacements.

 

[Shafi]

Australia can even drop all these players and bring fully a new set of players and they can perform same or even better. Australia, India have so many talents. Unfortunately it’s totally opposite for us. Apart from Shaheen and Babar none can even get into Australia 2nd XI.

 

[sweep_shot]

Australia can even drop all these players and bring fully a new set of players and they can perform same or even better. Australia, India have so many talents. Unfortunately it’s totally opposite for us. Apart from Shaheen and Babar none can even get into Australia 2nd XI.

This is true. Their bench players can make the main XIs of most Test nations.

 

[Titan24]

If your system is good then any gap if arises due to transitioning from one gen to another is generally for a limited span. Australia did struggle a bit when there ATG team starting to retire/age but, they were able to find the right players to invest in within few seasons.

Even now they have possibly the best young seam bowling all rounder in Cameron Green and they would have already identified their next batting and bowling potentials by now. Travis Head is a solid batsman who can improve further and also one of the leadership candidates of ever required (Though Cummins is still young). Yes as said there can be a gap but, the period of transition would be 1-3 seasons at max.

 

[redmaverik84]

Aussies typically don't peak early unlike we South Asians. Look at the U19 WC, Australia are always average and no one really stands out. After this a lot of them play club cricket and get into FC only by mid 20s and its closer to 28-29 that they get selected for the National Team. They then go on to play till almost 40 and peak in their mid to late 30's. So it always looks like the team is old and not too many new players coming in, but its just a mirage.

 

[Shafi]

Aussies typically don't peak early unlike we South Asians. Look at the U19 WC, Australia are always average and no one really stands out. After this a lot of them play club cricket and get into FC only by mid 20s and its closer to 28-29 that they get selected for the National Team. They then go on to play till almost 40 and peak in their mid to late 30's. So it always looks like the team is old and not too many new players coming in, but its just a mirage.

Most likely they are not serious about these useless tournaments just like T20 World Cups. They can easily will win if they want to just like 2021 T20 World Cup.

 

[BunnyRabbit]

I don't think Finch, Stoinis or Wade are anything close to being great especially the later two. Finch has been a good LOI player but has been out of touch for more than a year and a lot of young guys are already knocking on the door.

Smith, Lyon and Warner are the only ones that will leave a void that would need replacing considering Smith is an ATG and Lyon has been Australia's best spinner since Warne.

Smith may still have close to 5 years of test cricket left in him.

 

[wrongun]

These are the ages of the current players (all 3 formats)

D Warner/ ~36
A Finch/ ~36
U Khawaja/ 35
N Lyon/ ~35
G Maxwell/ 34
M Wade/ 34
S Smith/ 33
M Stoinis/ 33
M Starc/ 32
J Hazelwood/ ~32
P Cummins/ 29
M Labuschagne/ 28

Apart from Marnus & Cummins all others are on the wrong side of 30s, especially the batsmen. Australia did and would always have a really good pace attack. But can they find the replacements of these great batsmen and the legend spinner.

The one and only great batsman in the line up who is young (Labu-Shane), he’s from South Africa.

There’s lot of events coming up for these batsmen to hang up their boots

2022 T20I WC at home (Finch and Wade have hinted retirements)
2023 WC (Warner, Maxwell, Stoinis and Smith might say goodbye to 50 overs)
2023 Ashes in England (Warner has hinted his retirement, and possibly Khawaja too)

And the cash rich leagues like IPL, ILT20, CSAT20 would only hasten their decision. We already saw in last few weeks what’s going on with the ACB and the players


So, would the Australian team see a drastic and sudden slump in their performances after 2 years, or will they manage to be the top 3 team as they always have

Our big problem traditionally is replacing the spinner.

Sounds weird because of Warne and Lyon but we had absolute ZERO before, after and around them.

Warne was drafted in as a fat kid from 2nd grade because he could rip it.
Lyon was preparing for life as a groundskeeper and had been bypassed by all elite pathways & national junior teams.

We are always relying on miracles with spin because our system is threadbare in supporting them. Better than England who have a complete black hole, but we have the flimsiest of supports.

The rest: we will find.

We will have strong batsmen. Maybe less good in Asia. But that's normal. I do not expect Oz batting to suddenly plummet below England, SA or Pakistan level. Our domestic is still better. Our facilities and coaching are still good. The game is WAY softer at junior level and the kids talent pool is weaker/less athletic but I suspect same as happening in England & US.

Fast bowlers: we are fine. Will dominate. Sport science to support them now is strong here. Talent in abundance. T20 supports guys who want to bow express and they will also play Shield if they can. I don't remember a time we ever lacked a decent pacer or two. Often we have bumper crops.

All rounder: we have Green. Who may be an atg. Or just damn good. I suspect t20 will tap into the athleticism of Aussie kids and we'll see more AR emerging. Watch this space.

I expect no sudden drop. A few retirements we can cope with. A few new emergences. Some players play longer than expected. The usual.

 

[light]

It's Australia, there is a Gem waiting somewhere in their domestic circuit. Never count them out