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Lynn says BBL has primed Australia for T20 World Cup

In contrast to sceptical ex-Test quick Ryan Harris, big-hitting Chris Lynn believes Australia are primed for Twenty20 World Cup success thanks to the Big Bash League.

Feb 02, 2016, updated Feb 02, 2016
Australia lost the recent T20 series in a whitewash to India, but Chris Lynn believes the BBL has been a good warm-up for the likes of Shane Watson. Photo: Paul Miller, AAP.

Australia lost the recent T20 series in a whitewash to India, but Chris Lynn believes the BBL has been a good warm-up for the likes of Shane Watson. Photo: Paul Miller, AAP.

Lynn’s ex-Queensland teammate Harris has claimed the upcoming World Cup in India is a “waste of time”, lamenting Australia’s lack of international T20 experience due to a packed schedule.

Australia’s ever-changing line-up in their 3-0 home series whitewash to India has also raised eyebrows.

Australia – who experimented with 19 players including Lynn in the India series – have played just eight T20 internationals since the last World Cup two years ago.

Remarkably they contested just one T20 game between November 2014 and January this year.

Unlike Harris, Lynn said there was no cause for concern thanks to the “world best” BBL.

Asked if the BBL provided an adequate World Cup preparation despite the lack of internationals, Lynn said: “Yeah – I think the Big Bash is the best T20 comp in the world.

“The IPL is up there but in terms of the players in the tournament the BBL is the best.

“[And] the players in the line-up have been to India a number of times, they play IPL, they have been on tours – they know what they are going to get.

“Sub continent teams will play an extra spinner.

“But I think we will play spin better in those conditions than what we have played in the last week.”

Lynn was named Player of the BBL tournament but admitted he did not take his chance in the ever-changing Australian line-up against India.

He returned scores of 17, two and 13.

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But Lynn believed Usman Khawaja and Sunday night’s man of the match, centurion Shane Watson, should be the first batsmen picked for the World Cup.

“I have had a taste, obviously I would have liked to have done a bit better, I still feel I am in good nick,” he said.

“They are experimenting different line-ups.

“Boof [Australian coach Darren Lehmann] has been around a long time so there is definitely a method to his madness.

“Ahead of the World Cup you have to try a few things in case your plan A doesn’t work.”

Lynn added: “When someone like that [Khawaja] is on fire you don’t leave them behind – Twenty20 is about momentum and he has plenty at the moment.

“But when you have someone at the other end like Shane Watson it doesn’t matter how good you are hitting them.

“He is back to the old Shane Watson.”

Australia have slipped to eighth in the latest ICC T20 world rankings, after the 3-0 series whitewash against India.

Only minnows Afghanistan, Scotland, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, Netherlands, Zimbabwe and Ireland rank below Australia, only a month away from the T20 World Cup.

-AAP

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