Australia coach McDonald blames players for abject World Cup failure

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/australia/OxG0JfXg/"]Australia[/a] ‌crashed out of the group stage following losses ‌to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/zimbabwe/pCUnmKBm/"]Zimbabwe[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/sri-lanka/zahH5UHg/"]Sri Lanka[/a], triggering acrimony on the ‌home front.[/p][p]Former players and pundits have zeroed in on ‌Australia's preparations for the tournament which saw members of the squad arrive late to a warmup series in Pakistan ‌after prioritising the Big Bash League.[/p][p]Australia were ⁠thumped 3-0 by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/pakistan/tS3K91g9/"]‌Pakistan[/a] before failing to qualify for the World Cup's Super ​Eight phase.[/p][p]McDonald dismissed criticism that Australia had not prioritised the tournament, saying the team had ​been "[b]fully locked into[/b] (it) [b]for a period of time[/b]".[/p][p]"I have heard that sort of narrative that T20 World Cups ⁠don't matter to ​us," he told reporters.[/p][p]"[b]I think all that is a response to the performances of Australian cricket teams in these competitions.[/b][/p][p]"We won in 2021 and we haven't been ‌as successful since then. The expectations on the Australian cricket team are high -- and rightfully so.[/p][p]"[b]But to sit back and say that we're prioritising other formats or other versions of the game and not the T20 World Cup is entirely false.[/b]"[/p][embed guid="9efc1b88-c703-45b7-956d-41f82613dae7" url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhOTUdGdR5k" social-type="youtube" /][p]Australia were missing leading pace bowlers Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood due to injury but McDonald said the available players ‌were good enough but had not performed.[/p][p]"[b]It shouldn't be ​about the players that we're missing,[/b]" said McDonald, ‌who is also a selector.[/p][p]"It should be looking at the performances and we're disappointed in those. We need to own those and the critique is fair and reasonable."[/p][p]Australia finish their tournament with ⁠a dead rubber against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/oman/6DbKrjJ7/"]⁠Oman[/a] in Pallekele ‌later on Friday.[/p]