While Usman Khawaja was opening the batting in a T20 game in Toronto, Canada, his would-be Test partner Steve Smith was doing the same in Dallas, Texas.
A day after the release of a massive home summer schedule and confirmation “individual preparation blocks” would determine how much those two, and other Test stars, would play in the lead-up to a massive five-Test series against India, the opportunities to earn cash overseas when they could alternatively be resting, or at least at home, are testing priorities.
Khawaja, who is 37, made just three playing for the Toronto Nationals in his Global T20 debut, a tournament that has attracted less A-grade talent than the Major League Cricket competition in the US that features Smith and Travis Head in the same team – they are also two of the three leading run scorers – Test captain Pat Cummins and other jets including white-ball gun Glenn Maxwell.
The 2024 calendar was a rare one for the Australian Test team, with a nine-month stretch where their baggy greens remained in storage, allowing them to chase the dollars on offer in fledgling competitions, as well as the riches of the Indian Premier League where a dozen had contracts worth seven figures.
But the tournaments came after a non-stop start to 2024, with Tests against the West Indies, then New Zealand away before the IPL and then the T20 World Cup where plenty of Australia’s best arrived late due to commitments in India.
The World Cup also was littered with games in quick succession, loads of travel as the Australians hopped between islands and a frantic final 36 hours that included two games and ultimately an exit before the finals.
It was a scenario that demanded a massive post-tournament exhale and possibly a rest. But instead the likes of Head kept their bags packed and headed to another hotel room in another country for another T20 tournament.
National selection chief George Bailey was quizzed on why Cummins, a three-format player, and captain of both the Test and ODI teams, was allowed to take up his MLC deal in the US despite a plan having been in place for 12 months to use this time to rebuild his body.
Cummins was left out of a September white-ball tour of the UK for that reason and in an interview with cricinfo he said he needed time to “reinvest back in my body” after a massive 18 months that included six Tests in England, an ODI and T20 World Cup, plus five home Tests last summer.
“For the guys that play all three formats, you’re always trying to make sure you’re peaking for those major events – and it feels like there’s been about 10 major events in the last 18 months, so I haven’t really taken much time to reinvest back in my body,” he said.
Bailey was adamant the short stint, with Cummins to only play five matches in the US, wouldn’t impact his preparation for the home summer.
“It’s just an additional 18 or 19 days that he is available; it doesn’t really alter the strategy we have in place for him,” he said.
Smith, 35, has already played seven games for the Washington Freedom, so has Head, who also played every match at the T20 World Cup, 15 matches in the IPL, all three T20s in New Zealand as well as the two Tests.
Every extra games helps players feather their nest for life beyond cricket. It remains to be scene what impact the workload will have when games really matter.
Content Source: www.perthnow.com.au