Twenty20 is a different game

In April, the Caribbean will host the third World Twenty20 tournament, in which the best cricketing nations in the world will take about five minutes to decide which ones are the best at the newest form of the game.

Australia will be about four weeks removed from playing the Trans-Tasman trophy against New Zealand. While four weeks seems like an eternity between matches, this is an anomaly in the crowded international schedule, with the Aussies going to England immediately after the World Twenty20 to play Pakistan in Test Matches and ODIs.

Australia are currently the undisputed best team in ODIs and in the middle of a mild rebuilding phase in Test Cricket. The one form of the game where Australia have enjoyed no global level success is Twenty20. If only all Twenty20 matches were played in Australia (The Aussies are 7-0 in Twenty20 matches played on home soil).

Ricky Ponting has already given the shortest form of the game away at international level (although scheduling a press conference for this announcement was a little much). Michael Clarke is Australia's current Twenty20 captain.

The only problem is Michael Clarke has never really had any success in this form of the game. He averages less than 20 at Twenty20 level, while averaging over 40 at Test and ODI level.

And this is widely representative of what Australia has done at Twenty20 level: select cricketers who generally excel at Tests and ODIs, and hope they play alright. At the two World Twenty20 tournaments, this hasn't translated into a trophy.

So the time has come to think differently. You could argue the best Twenty20 sides in the world are Victoria and New South Wales, so we should be taking the vast majority of the Australian Twenty20 team from these two sides.

In fact, I think none of the current Test team should go to the World Twenty20. This would protect their confidence, which took at battering last year in England which could have helped going into the Ashes, and will also protect them from injury. As hard as it is to leave Mitchell Johnson or Brad Haddin out of any form of the game, these things should be done to preserve Australia's supremacy at ODI level, in which there will be a World Cup within 16 months, and keep an improving Test line-up intact.

So here's my crack at a different squad of 14 for the World Twenty20:

Cameron White - captain

Brad Hodge - vice captain

David Warner
Mitchell Marsh
Shaun Marsh
David Hussey
Tim Paine
Adam Voges
Moises Henriques
James Hopes
Steven Smith
Nathan Bracken (if fit)
Dirk Nannes
Shaun Tait

(If Bracken is not fit, replace him with Clint McKay.)

That's not a bad squad, and all have some record of performance at Twenty20 level. Installing White as captain is a good move, considering he's been doing it longer than any other Australian captain other than Ponting, and he's very good at it.

As you can see, there aren't too many specialist batsmen in the squad, and the ones in the squad can all bowl (except the Marshes). It would give youngsters like Henriques, Smith and Mitchell Marsh valuable international experience, and it would also almost completely remove any pressure on the team to win the tournament, as expectations would be low.

It's time to treat Twenty20 appropriately, and select a team of specialists with no association to the Test team. Let's start with a team from the above fourteen for the match against Pakistan in February. Should be exciting.