Recalled Turner's unique selling point for World Cup berth

While Ashton Turner knows his low-key recall to international cricket would likely not have happened in normal circumstances, the Perth Scorchers captain believes he holds a point of difference in his bid to make Australia’s World Cup squad.

Turner freely admitted he would not be going to New Zealand for next month’s five-match T20 series were it not for the 10 incumbents from Australia’s most recent limited-overs squad instead going to South Africa for an overlapping Test tour.

Yet the explosive right-hander has a unique selling point for national selectors as he pushes for a T20 World Cup berth in India later this year.

Turner, who is eager to secure a home BBL grand final at Optus Stadium by defeating the Sydney Sixers at Manuka Oval on Saturday, is the only specialist batter in Australia’s 18-man T20 squad who has played the entire tournament as a lower-order finisher.

That has meant the recently-turned 28-year-old is not even among the top five leading run scorers at his own BBL team this season.

More importantly though, for both the Scorchers and Australian selectors, is how quickly he has scored. His 184 runs have come at a strike-rate of 154.62, the highest among Perth batters and among the top five in the tournament (minimum 150 runs). 

“This year I’ve batted at six for the Scorchers whereas in years gone by I’ve batted a bit higher up the order,” Turner told reporters in Canberra on Friday.

“Naturally at six I’m not going to make as many runs as I have higher up the order but it probably means I’m getting more exposure to what’s required batting at number six. 

“There’s not many guys in the Australian squad batting at six in the Big Bash. 

“That’s probably my point of difference at the moment. 

“It’s not an easy role but I think the more exposure I can get to batting in that position, the better I’m going to get at it.”

Despite boasting one of the world’s best T20 leagues, Australia have failed to win the T20 World Cup in six attempts.

A consistent issue has been the challenge of fitting an abundance of gun top-order players who typically bat in the top three for their BBL (or Indian Premier League) teams. David Warner batted in the middle order and Aaron Finch was initially left out altogether during the last T20 World Cup in 2016.

Glenn Maxwell has emerged as Australia’s most regularly used finisher but he was elevated to No.4 for Australia’s most recent T20 series against India last month, with D’Arcy Short, Marcus Stoinis, Moises Henriques and Matthew Wade cycled through the middle order.

Allrounder Mitch Marsh has had a strong campaign for the Scorchers batting a spot above Turner, but Ben McDermott’s success has been back at the top of the Hurricanes’ line-up after a failed experiment of batting lower in BBL|09.

Turner burst onto the international scene in 2019 with one of the better ODI innings in recent memory, blasting 84 off 43 balls in a record run chase of 359 at Mohali during a stunning comeback 3-2 series win.

But he failed to pass 22 in any of his next 10 matches for Australia (admittedly while not batting in half those games) and was dropped after scoring 13 and 4 on another ODI tour of India in January last year.

“I’ve been out of the team for a while now and I know the last couple of tours I was picked on I didn’t play as well as I would have hoped,” said Turner.

“I think there’s a number of guys in the same boat as I am – if the South Africa Test tour wasn’t going ahead (we would not be in the squad). 

“There’s some superstars in that Test squad who are walk-up selections for the T20 squad.

“I still pinch myself talking about playing for Australia, it’s something I’ve always wanted to do as a kid, I’ve always idolised the Australian cricket team and to be in that conversation now is exciting. 

“I know my best cricket for Australia is still ahead of me.”

Qantas T20I tour of New Zealand 2021

Australia squad: Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Jason Behrendorff, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Josh Philippe, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Daniel Sams, Tanveer Sangha, D'Arcy Short, Marcus Stoinis, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa.

New Zealand squad: TBC

1st T20: February 22, Hagley Oval, Christchurch, 5pm AEDT

2nd T20: February 25, University of Otago Oval, Dunedin, 12noon AEDT

3rd T20: March 03, Sky Stadium, Wellington, 5pm AEDT

4th T20: March 05, Eden Park, Auckland, 5pm AEDT

5th T20: March 07, Bay Oval, Tauranga, 12noon AEDT

All matches will be shown live in Australia on Fox Cricket and Kayo