“It’s is the most baffling non-selection I can remember for ages” - Mark Waugh on Steve Smith’s non-selection

Former Australian cricketer Mark Waugh has lashed out at the men’s national selection committee for not including Steve Smith in the initial squad for the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 campaign, in India and Sri Lanka.

While Smith was included as a replacement player for Josh Hazlewood ahead of the Sri Lanka clash on Monday, February 16, he couldn’t make it to the final playing XI against Sri Lanka in Pallekele.

“I know you can’t please everybody, and sometimes there are tough calls that can go either way, but to me, the non-selection of Steve Smith in the squad originally is the most baffling non-selection I can remember for ages. I mean, here you’ve got a guy who has looked a class above everybody in the BBL. I think that the whole campaign was doomed from the get-go with selection issues and injuries,” Waugh told SENQ Breakfast.

“He’s an outstanding fieldsman. He’s a great player of spin. He should have been first picked, and he wasn’t picked in the squad… then he wasn’t even picked as a replacement, and then they’ve got him over there, and they still haven’t played him,” he added.

The decision not to include Smith in the playing XI cost Australia badly as they suffered an eight-wicket defeat to Sri Lanka, reducing their qualification chances. Australia would now be hoping for Ireland to defeat Zimbabwe to have a qualification chance.

“Look at the selections. Look at Maxwell, Connolly, Green, and Inglis, these guys are all out of form. Maxwell and Connolly have not made a run for three months between them,” he noted.

Australia squad: Mitchell Marsh (c), Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Tim David, Ben Dwarshuis, Cameron Green, Nathan Ellis, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Renshaw, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa, Steve Smith.

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