Sydney, Aug 8 (IANS) Australia head coach Andrew McDonald has indicated that the country’s leading Test cricketers could face difficult calls over their participation in next year’s Indian Premier League (IPL) as the team prepares for one of the most demanding periods in its international calendar.
Australia are scheduled to play 20 Tests and 14 white-ball internationals over the next 12 months, including a five-Test tour of India, a one-off Test against England to mark the 150th anniversary of the format and a five-Test Ashes series in England.
The IPL, expected to run from around mid-March until the end of May, falls into the only significant window without international cricket for Australia before a possible World Test Championship (WTC) final in June.
McDonald, however, stressed that the IPL remains an important part of Australia’s player management strategy and believes exposure to the competition can benefit the team’s leading cricketers. “I’ve said this before, the IPL is part of our management plan for a lot of our players, and to expose our best players in what I believe is the best competition in terms of T20 cricket has its performance benefits as well. You’ve just got to balance that out,” McDonald told Cricinfo.
Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Cameron Green and Travis Head are among the Australian players currently associated with IPL franchises, while Josh Inglis is also part of Lucknow Super Giants’ squad.
Any decision by Australia’s Test regulars to skip the tournament or limit their availability could have implications for franchise planning, particularly when it comes to player retention.
Australia’s pace attack is likely to be at the centre of the workload discussion, with McDonald emphasising the need to give the fast bowlers sufficient time to recover before another packed international cycle.
The Ashes and the ODI World Cup are among the major targets on Australia’s horizon, making player fitness and workload management particularly important.
“I know that people say, country versus franchise and all that, but the important part of this period is that we’re allowing our fast bowlers to reset their body, get everything in order to give themselves the best opportunity across the 20 or 21 games that everyone talks about,” McDonald said.
Australia have already taken a similar approach in the past. McDonald indicated that Australia could again make individual decisions based on players’ physical and mental condition rather than adopting a blanket approach.
“The starting point is that you can do it all, and I think if you start from that point, then you can make decisions according to that. The starting point is that the IPL can fit, and if it doesn’t fit, then you know these players, along with the management, have been willing to make those decisions,” McDonald added.
–IANS
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