Australia selectors focus on ‘important’ stepping stone to ODI World Cup defence

Australia could field their strongest ODI side since the 2023 World Cup final on the upcoming tour of South Africa as the selectors balance dual priorities of preparing for upcoming Test series and planning for their title defence next year.

Cummins, who remains Australia’s official ODI captain, has only played two ODIs since then and won’t be part of the Zimbabwe leg of the upcoming tour, while Starc, Hazlewood, Head and Marsh have either had workloads managed or been injured at various times. The quicks will continue to be carefully handled with the captaincy shared between Cummins and Marsh in the lead-up to the World Cup.

That quintet, along with Adam Zampa and Josh Inglis, are the survivors from the 2023 final who appear set to form the core for the 2027 World Cup alongside Cameron Green, who had a bit-part role four years ago but will be key to the middle-order next year, and likely Alex Carey.

Since the last World Cup, Australia’s ODI form has been inconsistent with just three series wins from eight bilaterals. They did reach the semi-finals of the 2025 Champions Trophy but that only included one victory against England, although they were on track to beat Afghanistan, before losing to India.

Cricket Australia is still pushing for an increase to World Cup squad sizes but it may be they remain at the current 15 so the selectors will have to narrow down their options for the remainder of the group over the next 12 months, which only provides limited opportunities in the 50-over format.

After the six games in Zimbabwe and South Africa, which have added significance given they are the major hosts of the World Cup, Australia only have three ODIs against England in November and another three against New Zealand next August currently on their schedule before the tournament.

“I think this is a pretty important tour for us,” chair of selectors George Bailey said. “Zimbabwe and South Africa, that’s where the World Cup will be played late next year. So we are effectively 12 to 14 months away from that and there’s reasonably limited opportunities across that.”

In terms of what a first-choice XI will look like, the area that will need most work from the last World Cup is the middle order which has lost Smith and is now without Labuschagne, who had been earmarked to play a similar role after dovetailing so successfully with Head in the 2023 final.

Since then, Labuschagne has averaged 21.87 in ODIs with a strike-rate of 74.94 and his struggles against Pakistan and Bangladesh in June – albeit where he finished with a half-century at No. 7 – led to him being dropped with youngsters Cooper Connolly and Ollie Peake given further opportunity

As a batter capable of going through the gears, Green shapes as a crucial figure in a reshaped middle order. Carey has also played as a specialist batter in recent times, having been dropped after one game of 2023 World Cup, when he was replaced as wicketkeeper by Inglis, and Matt Renshaw has emerged as a middle-order option.

“I still think we have that style of player within that squad,” Bailey said. “It’s not Steve Smith … the retirements of Steve, Glenn and even Marcus Stoinis – they were three very good role-players within that team.

“One of the great advantages, I think, of the way this one-day group has been evolving over the last period of time is that ability for players to morph. The hard thing through [the] middle order in one-day cricket is that there’s not really a specific role. You can be in at two or three for not many or you can be in at two or three for plenty and you’re trying to ice the cake or ice the chase at the back end.

“So that ability to be flexible or adapt your game to what’s playing out in front of you is really important. I think we’ve got a number of players that have done that and will continue to emerge to do that. And then clearly as we get closer to a World Cup, you start to really refine that and bed that down.”

Connolly shapes as a potentially key all-round option in the build up to next year after his stunning 149 against Bangladesh in June, although he will likely be squeezed out of opening with the return of Head and Marsh. That innings came when he was unable to bowl due to a back injury but he is now back in action with the ball.

As was the case at the 2023 World Cup, Zampa is currently the sole specialist spinner in the ODI squad with Connolly, Renshaw and the uncapped Joel Davies to support him. One of those could end up playing the role of second spinner at next year’s World Cup, which Maxwell performed successfully in India.

“Coop hasn’t been bowling for quite some time, so there’ll be some reintegration of that,” Bailey said. “But we think that’s an exciting part of his game that will continue to develop. Likewise with Joel, from what we’ve seen very early in his career, but again a secondary skill that we think particularly in white-ball cricket that can develop and be a really handy weapon for us.”

Source link