3 reasons why Australia should have picked Nathan Ellis in their 2023 World Cup squad
Five-time champions Australia have named a strong 15-member squad for the upcoming ODI World Cup 2023 to be played in India next month.
Australia who had earlier named a preliminary squad of 18 players last month for the ICC ODI World Cup 2023, reduced that to 15 on August 5, the last day to submit the squads.
The quartet of Pat Cummins, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, and Glenn Maxwell have all been named in Australia’s 15-man provisional squad for next month’s World Cup despite injury clouds hanging over their participation in the tournament.
The three players who missed the final cut from the earlier announced 18-member squad are all-rounder Aaron Hardie, pacer Nathan Ellis, and young spinner Tanveer Sangha.
While the selectors' reasoning for picking up experience is right in their territory for Hardie and Sangha, the exclusion of Nathan Ellis is something that has surprised everyone.
In this article, we look at three reasons why Nathan Ellis' absence could be a big miss for the 2015 Champions in the upcoming World Cup.
#3 Ellis' current form
Ellis was hitting right lengths against South Africa, troubling batters with his awkward pace along with the bounce he extracts from the pitch due to his height. Even batters like Aiden Markram and Rassie Van Der Dussen, who like to play on the back foot, found it difficult to hit through him.
It was not that Ellis was once and for all unplayable in South Africa as he did get hammered for 50 runs in his four overs in the 3rd T20 at Durban. Apart from that, he gave away only 36 runs in two T20Is, picking up four crucial wickets.
#2 Too many injury concerns
If we look at the construction of the Australian squad, then we see the trio of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, and Mitchell Starc in the starting XI.
Yes, Australia have bowlers for that role but injury doubts over key players like Cummins and Starc raise questions over their match fitness and the efficiency in a big tournament like the World Cup.
Also, the white Kookaburra ball hardly swings for three to four overs with the new ball and the placid Indian wickets need bowlers who can extract something extra from the pitch to trouble the batters.
That's where Nathan Ellis comes into the picture. He may not have passed the experience test of selection, but he had all the ingredients to make a significant impact in the tournament.
#1 Improved and impressive death bowling
Nathan Ellis has emerged as one of the brightest proponents of death bowling in Australia right now. Be it the Marsh Cup, the Big Bash League, or international cricket, he is continuously making his mark in death bowling.
In T20s, he has been a go-to bowler with a dot ball percentage of 41.6%, giving runs at 8.29. In ODI matches, his death-over economy rate hovers around 6.41. With a variety of variations in his report, Ellis could be a game-changer for Australia in the World Cup just like Jofra Archer was for England last time around.