EXCLUSIVE: Mark Taylor predicts world cricket shake-up following T20 upsets
Cricket great Mark Taylor has tipped a shake-up of the global pecking order after early upsets in the T20 World Cup.
After poor showings at last year's T20 World Cup in the UAE, both the West Indies and Sri Lanka were forced to play in the first round of the tournament against qualifiers in Hobart and Geelong respectively.
Both sides suffered shock losses in their first matches, which meant they had to win both of their final two matches to progress.
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Sri Lanka lost to Namibia in Geelong last Sunday, before bouncing back to smash the UAE on Tuesday and then beat the Netherlands, to that point undefeated, by 16 runs on Thursday.
Namibia celebrates a wicket during its T20 World Cup win over Sri Lanka. Getty
The Windies were also thumped by Scotland in their first match, and then survived a chaotic run-out and a low-order charge to knock over Zimbabwe in their second. They will face Ireland Friday afternoon.
With all teams in Group B one-and-one, both winners of Friday afternoon's matches - Scotland v Zimbabwe the other clash - will put themselves into the Super 12 stage.
Taylor said the increase of T20 competitions around the world has boosted the skill level of players from traditional 'minnow' nations.
Namibia celebrate the wicket of Sri Lanka's Danushka Gunathilaka. Getty
He said the upsets also highlighted the importance of remaining in the top eight in the rankings.
"A really exciting thing is there's no doubt those sides are getting better at the shorter form of the game, and I think it's because they're probably just focusing on it and they're playing more games so they're getting better at it," Taylor told Wide World of Sports.
"When you shorten any game, the performance on the day obviously is crucial but you can easily get it wrong in a three hour period and therefore lose a game.
Mark Watt of Scotland celebrates with teammates after running out Akeal Hosein of the West Indies. ICC via Getty Images
"There's less chance in a T20 World Cup of any game going to plan, because it just takes one person and terrific performance from one individual to really change the game."
Taylor said he would've liked to have seen Australia win one of their warm-up matches - in either the series against England or the dedicated warm-up clash against India - but still rated the team a strong chance to defend their title from last year.
Stream every Australian men's T20 World Cup match plus selected other matches, including the finals, live and free on 9Now.
"We've got quality players - there's no doubt we're a chance," he said.
"I would have liked to have seen Australia at least win one of our last few games, even though they didn't play badly. Even against India we looked like we were there and then all of a sudden Virat Kohli takes a terrific catch on the boundary and we we lose four wickets in four balls.
Mitchell Starc celebrates during the T20 series against the West Indies. Getty
"I think winning, like anything, becomes a habit. So it would have been nice to win that.
"But the good news is Finch found some form. I think he and Davey Warner at the top of the order are a formidable combination, and if our bowlers can take early wickets, I think we can win it."
Australia start their T20 World Cup defence against New Zealand in front of a sold-out SCG crowd on Saturday night.
