Boof on 'tough' Henriques selection

Coach Darren Lehmann concedes batting Moises Henriques at No.4 during the Champions Trophy was a gamble that "probably" didn't pay off and Australia's future plans for the position will be assessed as part of their review of the tournament.

Henriques was a surprise selection at second-drop having played just eight one-day internationals in eight years leading into the tournament, the NSW Blues skipper picked ahead of fellow allrounder Marcus Stoinis and batting powerhouse Chris Lynn.

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Henriques was the sixth different batsman to fill the No.4 position in 10 matches since George Bailey was dropped in January. Lynn, Mitchell Marsh, Peter Handscomb, Travis Head and Glenn Maxwell were all trialled in the position for one match each against Pakistan last January before Handscomb and then Head filled the role against New Zealand in February.

The right-hander looked the part early in both his innings during the tournament, striking four early boundaries against New Zealand and three against England before being dismissed for 18 and 17 respectively.

The 30-year-old's career batting average now sits at 9.62 from 11 matches, the lowest of any Australian top-seven batsmen in ODI history to have played at least 10 games.

Lehmann says skipper Steve Smith had pushed to have Henriques in the side and concedes the move didn't work.

"Probably not," he said. "We'll have to sit back and have a look at that and moving forward (work out) what we do there.

"Obviously Marcus was very good in New Zealand so that was always a tough selection call.

"You take advice from everyone and you make a call. The skipper was quite keen for him to bat four.

"He looked good, he just didn't capitalise."

Former Aussie skippers Michael Clarke and Shane Warne both questioned the allrounder's selection at No.4 during the tournament.

Henriques has averaged 69, 63 and 54 respectively in the past three editions of the Matador One-Day Cup, including a match-winning 85 in the 2016 final, while last summer he was the fifth-highest run-scorer in the Sheffield Shield (averaging 64) and the ninth-highest in the KFC Big Bash League. He also averaged 46 in the recent Indian Premier League.

But having produced a trio of sumptuous boundaries early in his innings against England on Saturday, three of the cleanest strikes of the day, a swipe across the line against Adil Rashid led to his downfall for 17, much to the visible frustration of his skipper at the non-striker's end.

Lynn had been widely tipped in the media to play in Australia's opening match against New Zealand, but was left out in favour of Henriques, whose bowling came in handy after Australia's main quicks conceded 114 runs in the first 15 overs of the match. He also picked up 1-30 with the ball against Bangladesh at The Oval as Australia's fourth pace-bowling option.

"It was probably in our plans (to pick Henriques)," Smith said after the NZ game.

"We could have gone a couple of different ways. Moises's bowling was quite handy today as well. He's a good fielder, so we went that option."

Champions Trophy 2017 Guide

Squads: Every Champions Trophy nation

Schedule

1 June – England beat Bangladesh by eight wickets

2 June – New Zealand v Australia, No Result

3 June – Sri Lanka lost to South Africa by 96 runs

4 June – India beat Pakistan by 124 runs

5 June – Australia v Bangladesh, No Result

6 June – England beat New Zealand by 87 runs

7 June – Pakistan beat South Africa by 19 runs (DLS method)

8 June – Sri Lanka beat India by seven wickets

9 June – Bangladesh beat New Zealand by five wickets

10 June – England beat Australia by 40 runs (DLS method)

11 June – India v South Africa, The Oval (D)

12 June – Sri Lanka v Pakistan, Cardiff (D)

14 June – First semi-final (A1 v B2), Cardiff (D)

15 June – Second semi-final (A2 v B1), Edgbaston (D)

18 June – Final, The Oval (D)

19 June – Reserve day (D)