West Indies shock India to reach final
Host nation India have failed to reach the final of the ICC World T20 after a resounding fight back by the West Indies.
PT1M33S 620 349While former Australia captain Steve Waugh said he wholeheartedly agreed with Cricket Australia's philosophy to rate Test cricket above all other formats, he believed Steve Smith's men paid for it during the World Twenty20 in India.
The Australians were knocked out by host nation India and Waugh, who travelled to the subcontinent to watch the tournament, said there was a number of factors behind the quick exit.
"We probably haven't played enough Twenty20 cricket in the past 12-18 months and we swapped the team about a fair bit," Waugh said.
Price to pay: Cricket Australia's decision to prioritise Test cricket hurt Steve Smith's men in the World T20 tournament. Photo: Getty Images
"To Cricket Australia's credit, we have put Test cricket on a pedestal, we've put that above all else, which I think is a great thing for cricket. Not many other countries are doing that."
"The down side to that was that the Twenty20 side [of the game] suffered with players in and out and [they] didn't get a consistent role in the side and they just fell short in India."
Waugh said the playing schedule and demands on the players meant it would be hard to send the national team on more tours to prepare for the World T20 in Australia in 2020.
"I bumped into Steve Smith over there and he said playing three forms of cricket means you're away for 280 days a year, which is a lot from your family but it is more intense these days," he said.
"We were away for the same amount of time, for instance the tour of the UK for an Ashes tour was 4½ months, these days it is 2½ months, so they squeeze in a lot more high-level, intensity cricket.
"So it is hard on the players physically, I guess mentally and technically. It is a real challenge. I think [having] the guys play all three formats is probably too much but I still think we need to find a way for the T20 side to fulfil their potential and we can be the top of all three forms of the game."
Waugh expressed his opinion before presenting Nic Maddinson with the Steve Waugh medal as the summer's best NSW cricketer. The 24-year-old, who pipped Mitchell Starc for the honour by half a point, was stunned.
"I feel as though I've robbed someone who could have deserved it a lot more," said Maddinson, who scored 380 Matador Cup runs and 488 Sheffield Shield runs. "But in saying that, it is a huge honour."
Ellyse Perry, who is in India as a member of the World T20 Southern Stars finalists, was awarded the Belinda Clarke Medal for her stellar season with the NSW Breakers and Sydney Sixers.
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