Matt Floyd's Team of the Week: Eoin Morgan, Dawid Malan and Boom Boom are in!
Steve Smith makes the XI after his Test double ton at the WACA
Friday 22 December 2017 06:51, UK
This week's team is an attacking one and should thrive whatever the format and conditions - power, touch, spin and raw pace are all covered...
SHIKHAR DHAWAN (India)
Dhawan has some hot competition in the opening position for India at the moment and he reminded everyone of his talents with a century in the final ODI against Sri Lanka. Next job for him will be to cement a place in the XI for the first Test in South Africa in January.
EVIN LEWIS (Windies)
It was in a losing cause, but Lewis' 76 against New Zealand laid a solid platform for the Windies in the first ODI - they just did not build on it as they would have liked. Lewis has shown in his relatively short career so far that he can also knuckle down if required.
STEVE SMITH (Australia) - captain
Two incredible Ashes innings have confirmed what many people thought already - Smith is the best Test batsman in the world by a distance at the moment. Not bad for a man who made his debut at No 8!
DAWID MALAN (England)
Malan left the WACA with his head held high after a fine individual game that surely shows he has most of the tools to cope at the highest level. Those who accused him of being responsible for England's first-innings collapse need to look at the scorebook.
JONNY BAIRSTOW (England) - wicketkeeper
Bairstow let his cricket do the talking in Perth with that maiden Ashes century. Why has one of England's best batsmen spent much of his career at No 7? Surely he would have more than four Test hundreds had he been up the order.
EOIN MORGAN (Kerala Kings)
England's white-ball captain lit up the inaugural T10 League final by scoring 63 and going at an extraordinary strike rate of 300. He's been talking up the format as potentially ideal for the Olympics. I reckon he could be right.
MITCHELL MARSH (Australia)
While there was a certain inevitability to Smith's double hundred at the WACA, Marsh's 181 came out of the blue and completely stunned England. An innings full of crisp, powerful drives, he will hope to use the knock as a springboard for a prolonged run in the Test team.
SHAHID AFRIDI (Pakhtoons)
If you want to launch a new format, get Boom Boom involved. After 21 years as one of the most entertaining players in the game, he has a cult following and duly delivered on the opening day of the T10 League - he took a hat-trick with his first three balls!
MITCHELL STARC (Australia)
Starc deserves to be in any team of the week after bowling one of the most incredible balls ever seen to James Vince. On top of that, he's been a consistent threat to England throughout the Ashes and is on course to finish as the leading wicket taker in the series.
JOSH HAZLEWOOD (Australia)
Hazlewood gives Starc and Pat Cummins the licence to be aggressive with his unerring accuracy. His five wickets in the second innings in Perth squashed any faint English hopes of hanging on for the draw.
YUZVENDRA CHAHAL (India)
The leg-spinner sparked Sri Lanka's collapse in the deciding ODI and then routed them in the first T20 with 4-23. Chahal has had great success at home and in subcontinental conditions so it will be really interesting to see how he goes in South Africa early next year.
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