Live Score
Cricket Teams
Cricket Players‘How was Steve Smith not on the plane?’: Michael Vaughan blasts Australia after humiliating group-stage exit
Australia's early exit from the T20 World Cup 2026 reignites debate over squad selection, particularly the omission of Steve Smith.
Australia’s early exit from T20 World Cup 2026 has reopened a familiar debate in Australia cricket: was the squad built for the conditions it walked into, or for an idea of what T20 should look like? Their group-stage elimination was sealed after rain elsewhere made the remaining permutations irrelevant, leaving Australia with only pride to play for.
In the immediate post-mortem, the loudest criticism has centred on a name that never made the flight at the start, Steve Smith, and what is omission said about Australia’s selection priorities in expected spin-friendly conditions.
Former England captain, Michael Vaughan summed up that frustration in blunt terms while reflecting on Australia’s tournament unravelling, “Well he’s had to fly home because obviously they are out but how he wasn’t on that plane at the start of the tournament is beyond me. The way that he played in the big bash, the way that he manoeuvres spin, the way that he obviously can hit the pace. I think Australia missed a massive trick not having Steve Smith there.”
Vaughan’s point wasn’t nostalgia. It was role logic. Australia’s batting repeatedly looked comfortable when the ball was new and hard, then brittle one the game slowed and bowlers squeezed pace-off and spin through the middle overs - exactly the phase where Smith’s game is built on access, angles and low-risk manipulation.
That criticism has also been echoed closer to home. Former Australia coach Darren Lehmann questioned why the squad leaned so heavily into power-hitting profiles despite subcontinental conditions, arguing that one of Australia’s best players of spin was a more sensible insurance policy than another impact batter.
The selection argument has sharpened by Smith’s recent domestic form in the Big Bash League. Lehmann pointed to Smith’s output - 299 runs at an average of 60 and a strike rate of 168 - as evidence that the 35-year-old still has a modern T20 gear, not just a reputation.
Australia cannot rewrite the campaign now, but the Smith conversation matters because it speaks to a bigger issue: adaptability. In tournaments decided by match-ups and phases, leaving out a player whose skill-set travels - spin control, pace access, and crisis management - can be the difference between one bad night and an exit that feels self-inflicted.
