Australia are banking on team camaraderie strengthened by Barbados’ tranquil waters to offset the turbulent journeys taken by several of their most important players only days before their T20 World Cup campaign begins.
The final pieces of a trans-continental puzzle have just about fallen into place after their final five squad members, all of whom featured in the Indian Premier League playoffs, landed in Barbados.
Not without incident, though.
After squaring off against Kolkata Knight Riders’ finals hero Mitchell Starc in last week’s IPL decider in Chennai, Sunrisers Hyderabad’s losing captain Pat Cummins returned to Australia for a pitstop at home.
The paceman then spent more than two days in transit between Sydney and the Caribbean, with his wife Becky revealing their luggage was lost along the way, though it’s understood Cummins’ gear is now with him.
Flight delays also affected Starc and Maxwell, as the pair had to spend a night in Los Angeles and then another night in Miami en route to Barbados after their own brief trips back to Australia following the IPL.
That came after Marcus Stoinis was left out of a warm-up match against the West Indies in Trinidad last week when his cricket kit failed to arrive on the island.
While hardly disastrous or unprecedented, the hold-ups have left several of the Aussies’ most important players with scant time on the ground and still feeling the effects of several long flights only days before their tournament opener against Oman on Wednesday (Thursday morning AEST).
Ashton Agar said a sunset cruise on Saturday has helped calm the waters, revealing how the spark for the team’s tight bond was relit on one of the world’s most stunning coastlines.
“A lot of the boys are coming off a long time in India in the IPL, maybe 48 hours at home for a couple of them, so to do something like that is so refreshing,” Agar told reporters.
“I think mentally once you’ve done that, you go into the sessions ready to go, because you’ve already enjoyed what the Caribbean has to offer.
“We were sitting on the roof of the catamaran as we were coming back last night and ‘Stoin’ (Stoinis) actually mentioned that, ‘I don’t know if many other teams would be like this’.
“You’ve got all the boys sitting on the roof watching the sun go down, having a drink together, having a genuinely good time and enjoying each other’s company.
“It was pretty easy to forget you’re here for a World Cup.”
Agar’s presence at an optional session the following morning at the aptly-named Windward Cricket Club on the island’s southeastern Saint Philip parish along with five of his teammates showed he had not forgotten.
Strong gusts saw balls flying in all directions during a range-hitting session for Maxwell and Cameron Green, the allrounder who is another of the recently arrived.
That included one ball landing in a neighbouring house’s backyard near a pair of goats, prudently left unretrieved.
The barren surrounds of Windward CC are the width of the island away from the more enclosed Kensington Oval, which boasts a new temporary stand installed on the grass hill on the ground’s eastern side.
Wind, however, will still be a factor at Barbados’ main venue (the one chosen by the ICC to host the tournament final) given this month-long event is being held at the beginning of the region’s rainy season.
“Getting them hitting to the side the wind is not going to is going to be really important,” Agar said after a training session that was briefly interrupted by a rapidly-enveloping squall.
“There’s been a lot of weather around so I imagine it’s going to be windy every day here in Barbados. The good thing is we won’t be surprised.”
But Agar insisted getting his own house in order was more important than external factors like local conditions or their first opposition, Oman, whose strengths and weaknesses will become clearer after they kick off their tournament against Namibia on Sunday evening local time.
The left-arm spinner, a strong chance of featuring if the Kensington surface lives up to its reputation as a turning track, spent much of Sunday’s session working on his technique with coach Andrew McDonald and bowling to cones while being filmed by the team’s analyst.
“Before a tournament where you’re not going to train too much when the matches come thick and fast, you want to get all your drills in,” said Agar.
“You want to make sure you’re good to go, your mechanics are working well, nailing that four-to-six metre length, getting my shoulder on the right path.”
2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup
Australia’s squad: Mitch Marsh (c), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa
Australia’s Group B fixtures
June 6: v Oman, Kensington Oval, Barbados, 10.30am AEST
June 9: v England, Kensington Oval, Barbados, 3am AEST
June 12: v Namibia, Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua, 10.30am AEST
June 16: v Scotland, Daren Sammy Stadium, St Lucia, 10.30am AEST
Super Eights, finals to follow if Australia qualify
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