Peter Handscomb and Ashton Turner were the other unlucky men to miss out on a place in the squad announced on Monday, April 15, despite strong performances recently.

Banned for 12 months for their role in the ball-tampering scandal, Smith and Warner became eligible for selection on March 29. While they were not picked for Australia’s squad for the Pakistan ODIs in UAE, partly owing to injury concerns, they have featured in the IPL. While Warner has been in excellent nick – 400 runs at 80 with a ton and four half-centuries – Smith has had relatively underwhelming returns with just one fifty in six innings. Yet, the former captain has the backing of the selectors.

“Both are world-class players and it has been pleasing to see them produce some good form in the IPL,” said Trevor Hohns, the chairman of selectors.

Steve Smith and David Warner return while Peter Handscomb and Josh Hazlewood have missed out on a spot in Australia’s World Cup squad #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/MZ1a01nxF1

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) April 15, 2019

With Warner’s return, skipper Aaron Finch and Usman Khawaja, who have accumulated 836 runs between them in just 11 innings this year, might be separated. Middle-order batsman Shaun Marsh and wicket-keeper Alex Carey have retained their spots. Glenn Maxwell is the spin-bowling all-rounder, while Marcus Stoinis slots in as his seam-bowling counterpart.

“We have Joe Burns, Cameron Bancroft, Marnus Labuschagne, Matthew Renshaw, Peter Siddle and Daniel Worrall in our sights but they have not been included in the squad and will continue to play through this period with their county teams,” said Hohns. “However, we have made it clear that strong form with their county teams will be taken into account for selection in the Ashes squad or the Australia v Australia A tour match.”

Australia A will play five one-dayers from June 20 to July 2, and the four-day games from July 7.

Australia World Cup squad: Aaron Finch (c), David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith, Shaun Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Jhye Richardson, Pat Cummins, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Adam Zampa, Nathan Lyon

Australia A one-day squad: Travis Head (c), Matthew Wade (wk), Will Pucovski, Peter Handscomb, Ashton Turner, Mitch Marsh (vc), D’Arcy Short, Kurtis Patterson, Ashton Agar, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Josh Hazlewood (vc), Kane Richardson, Sean Abbott

Australia A four-day squad: Tim Paine (c), Marcus Harris, Kurtis Patterson, Will Pucovski, Travis Head (vc), Peter Handscomb, Matthew Wade, Mitch Marsh, Michael Neser, Jon Holland, James Pattinson, Jackson Bird, Josh Hazlewood (vc), Chris Tremain