Ahead of the T20 World Cup defense on home soil last October, national selectors decided they couldn’t have both Aaron Finch and Steve Smith in the batting lineup.

They are too similar, they can score at decent pace and even clear boundaries consistently when they start, but with the T20 game leaning towards instant power hitters, Finch or Smith will have to go.

Despite calls across the country on the eve of the tournament to make the out-of-form captain the man to miss, the selectors chose Finch.

It was the wrong decision at the time, and it looks even worse now.

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Finch’s middling form wasn’t the only reason Australia failed to defend their World Cup title, but it was the kind of decision the team couldn’t make when they were expected to lift the trophy, or at least in the tournament.

Steve Smith celebrates his first BBL century in Coffs Harbour. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

The fact that Australia missed the semi-finals suggested they needed a restart.

Australia have struggled in the men’s T20 arena for years, with victory in the UAE World Cup in 2021 being an outlier rather than a steadfast performance for the team in the global rankings.

Australia won’t be playing shortest form again until they face the Proteas in South Africa in August, so there’s no rush to make any decisions now as the BBL draws to a close.

However, it’s clear that the new breed needs to get some playing time with the national team.

Finch was solid for the Renegades, scoring 41.8 points for 418 and becoming the third-leading scorer going into the finals with a 122.58 hit rate.

Aaron Finch (Photo by Chris Hyde—ICC/ICC via Getty Images)

He has yet to announce whether he will retire from the T20 internationals after falling to his ODI sword earlier in the summer after poor performances in top-flight clashes with Zimbabwe and New Zealand.

His BBL status proves he can keep going at the franchise level, but he’s sure to end his international career in due course in the near future, or the selectors will be remiss if they allow him to keep trying in average 28.44 and run out of time after hitting 119.9 in 2022, the worst year of his career.

His long-term Australian opening partner, David Warner, failed to pay the huge sums that cricket Australia paid for him to play in the BBL instead of heading to the UAE’s new league for a heavier contract.

In five games, he put together a pathetic 63 points for the Sydney Thunder, 12.6 points well below 100. That relatively small sample size doesn’t necessarily mean he should be eliminated, but with his hopes of continuing to play into next year’s World Cup in the U.S. and the Caribbean, many young options are knocking on the proverbial selection door.

Nobody has done more than Matt Short’s 458, topping Adelaide’s standings this summer, beating bowlers with a 144.47 strike rate, and after last year’s breakout season, he proved his worth at international level give it a try.

Young all-rounder Aaron Hardie, another rising star, couldn’t be more honored after he hit 434 in 48.22 and 142.76.

Aaron Hardy. (Photo by Bradley Canaris/Getty Images)

Mitch Marsh, Marcus Stoinis and Glenn Maxwell have been mid-level all-rounders for years, but are all on the wrong side of the under-30s and are not guaranteed to be part of Australia’s T20 future.

The wild card is Cameron Green, who missed the BBL with a finger injury. It remains to be seen whether he will become a T20 starter or a mid-level expert, and whether he can cope with the workload of the international level IPL plus three competition systems.

Smith’s opener produced an explosive result for the Sydney Sixers as he hit 33 off consecutive hundreds and 66 against the Hurricanes this week, breaking records and bowling attacks in the same way.

The 33-year-old Test vice-captain has been noncommittal about his T20 future and clearly doesn’t need to make a decision anytime soon, but if he puts next year’s World Cup on his to-do list, it should be at the top of the order .

As a short-term stopgap, the captaincy could also go to him to relieve Pat Cummins of the burden while developing a younger option for the role.

Goalkeeper Matthew Wade says his international break is numbered and Perth’s Josh Inglis is his clear successor in T20 format with his power hitting and neat glove action.

Josh Inglis bats in the fourth match of the T20I series between Australia and Sri Lanka. (Photo by Daniel Pockett – CA/Cricket Australia via Getty Images)

Inglis’ installation as a T20 keeper may help ease the workload for Alex Carey, who is more suited to ODI and Test style.

The 27-year-old West Australian already has plenty of experience and could be captaining the team now rather than a year or two later, with Cummins in a leadership role in two longer formats.

Spin wise, Adam Zampa is an elite white-ball bowler who deserves a few more years with the national team, while Todd Murphy, as he did with the red-ball, has emerged as the heir apparent.

The Sixers’ use of Murphy ahead of Nathan Lyon may be a sign of what’s to come.

Cummins, Josh Hazelwood and Mitchell Stark, can’t go on forever in all three formats after his controversial appearance in his last T20 World Cup match, with the experienced trio needing to be settled sooner rather than later The priority of series and format.

Nathan Ellis hasn’t been great in the BBL, but after impressing in his first few white-ball chances for the national team, he should get more chances in Australia’s T20 side, while Jay • Richardson should be the pacesetter of the future once he falters out of his nasty injury.

Renegade Tom Rodgers and Hobart’s Riley Meredith, with 21 wickets each, made strong cases for the green and gold call-ups, while Sixers paceman Sean Abbott (25 wickets, 14.76) and Perth’s AJ Tye (24 wickets, 18.45) were as reliable as ever, despite both being at the veteran stage.

Injuries and form in other domestic leagues will have an impact over the next six months, after which the selectors will need to finalize their squad for the future, but what is certain is that now is the time to make some changes to ensure the Australians don’t let themselves down again. I lost my chance to win the next World Cup.