SYDNEY, (Reuters) – The Australian international season ended with a decisive loss to New Zealand in a Twenty20 series decision in Wellington on Sunday, leaving many questions to be answered over the coming months.
Unlike the home test series loss to India around the New Year, the 3-2 loss at the hands of the Black Caps eight months out of the T20 World Cup in India had mitigating circumstances.
There was no question that the squad was weakened by the absence of key players including David Warner and Steve Smith, who were subsequently selected for the test tour of South Africa and subsequently aborted Australia due to health concerns.
After coming out of quarantine, Aaron Finch’s side lost the first two games but rebounded to level the series ahead of Sunday’s decision.
“I was impressed with our resilience throughout the series to bounce back from 2-0 down,” said Finch after Sunday’s fifth T20 loss of seven wickets.
“Even when we lost the second game in particular, we were right there, probably one swing of the bat when pinned. The group had a lot of character. ”
The T20 World Cup is the only global cricket trophy that Australia has never won and they will be confident of competing with full strength sides in October and November.
Many of the players most likely to take them to a pre-wedding title will go abroad again next month to hone their T20 skills in the Indian Premier League.
India’s fourth victory over England means Australia will not compete against the newest world trophy in the men’s game with Virat Kohli’s team now set to challenge New Zealand at Lord’s World Test Championship in June.
The decision not to travel the whole of South Africa only sealed Australia’s fate on that score but the Ashes home series later this year is something to look forward to.
The Australians repaired some of the damage done to their reputation by the Newlands ball tampering scandal in how they kept the ounce in England in 2019.
However, the leadership of the captain-coach combination of Tim Paine and Justin Langer who organized that feat was increasingly questioned during and after the humiliating test series loss of India.
Those questions, as well as a big one over the batting of central Australia, will be overcome over the coming months and, for Finch and his New Zealand tourists, they only had one thought as they went on their day charter flight Sunday.
“It’s been a long summer for many boys who have been in bubbles, I know some men in WA (Western Australia) haven’t been home for quite a few months,” said Finch.
“We’re all looking forward to getting home and seeing family and things.”