Having announced an 18-member provisional squad last month, Australia have finally trimmed it down to 15 one month ahead of the World Cup.

The three players who have been left out from the 18-member squad are the uncapped duo of Tanveer Sangha and Aaron Hardie, and fast bowler Nathan Ellis. Australia have until September 28 to finalise their squad.

Australia provisional squad for World Cup 2023

Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Steve Smith, David Warner, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Adam Zampa, Ashton Agar, Josh Inglis (wk), Sean Abbott, Cameron Green.

Highly experienced first XI

Australia’s likely first XI is full of experienced international players who have played a lot of cricket in India. Except for Josh Inglis and Ashton Agar, each of the remaining 13 Australian players in their World Cup squad have featured in the IPL, some more than the others.

The average age of the squad stands at 31.2 years, with Cameron Green being the only player younger than 28 years of age. While experience does not guarantee results, it will provide the Australian management and fans the cushion of knowing that the players have played on the big stage for a long time, and are well-versed with the conditions that will be on offer in the World Cup.

Return of the famed seam-bowling trio

Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, and Mitchell Starc last played an ODI together in 2020. Since 2021, Cummins has played just six ODIs, Hazlewood 15, and Starc 14. The World Cup will mark their return to the ODI setup as a fast-bowling unit after three years.

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Cummins is currently battling a wrist injury which he picked up in the 2023 Ashes, but is expected to be fit for the three-match ODI series against India just before the World Cup. Starc has a phenomenal ODI record which gets even better in World Cups, and Hazlewood has been the most regular in IPL XIs among the three over the last few years. There won’t be many seam attacks better than Australia’s at the World Cup if they are at their best.

Lots of all-rounders provide extreme bowling depth

Australia’s 15-member squad consists of as many as seven seam-bowling options and five spin-bowling options. The likes of Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Marsh, and Cameron Green can all bat in the top six and provide overs with the ball. On spin-friendly pitches, even Travis Head and Steve Smith can roll their arms over.

With Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins, and Adam Zampa most likely to be their four frontline bowlers, the abundance of all-rounders in the batting order will give Australia the advantage of not having to compromise on either bowling quality or batting depth. The fact that most of these all-rounders are flexible with their batting positions and can be moved around in the batting order depending on the demands of the match situation makes them Australia’s biggest asset heading into the World Cup.

The opening conundrum

David Warner has played all but two of his 142 ODI innings as an opener. However, the resurgence of Travis Head and the emergence of Mitchell Marsh as openers have raised questions.

Head averages 53.3 and strikes at 108 from 21 innings as an opener in ODIs. Since 2022, those numbers have improved to 64.9 and 121 respectively.

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In the ODI series against India earlier this year, Australia tried out Marsh as an opener for the first time in ODI cricket, and he had a massive positive impact. In three games, he scored 194 runs at an average of 97 and a strike rate of 131.1.

While Warner’s returns as an opener since 2022 haven’t been bad (average 42.5, strike rate 92.6), Head’s and Marsh’s have just been better, leading to Australia using Warner at No.4 for the first time in his career in the ODI series against India earlier this year. Going into the World Cup, more of the same can be expected.

No back-up to Zampa

Australia have picked two very different frontline spinners in the form of Adam Zampa and Ashton Agar. Although more than capable of tying an end up, Agar is not as incisive as Zampa and it is notable that there is no like-for-like deputy for the first choice leggie within the squad of 15.