2019 Cricket World Cup in England: Aussies on back foot as tournament defence looms large

Australia will seek to end a seven-match ODI losing streak, already the nation’s worst slump in the format, against South Africa in Adelaide on Friday. Remarkably, the five-time World Cup winners have just two wins to show from their past 19 ODIs.

The upside for Australia is they have almost seven months to sort out various woes before starting their Cup campaign against Afghanistan in Bristol. And, as Steve Waugh’s side showed in the same country back in 1999, form can be found quickly and a shabby start to the showpiece tournament is not an insurmountable hurdle.

Can Aaron Finch turn around Australia’s flagging fortunes?Source:Getty Images

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The downside is the two batsmen capable of making the biggest difference, Steve Smith and David Warner, won’t be available for any of the 15 ODIs to come before Justin Langer and selectors settle on their 15-man World Cup squad.

Australia must lodge their World Cup squad on April 23.

It means Smith and Warner, presuming their bans aren’t altered by Cricket Australia, will be judged on a couple of weeks of Indian Premier League action.

The expectation is the sacked skipper and vice-captain will make the cut but uncertainty surrounds Australia’s first-choice XI, especially the batting order.

Josh Hazlewood, speaking prior to Sunday’s ODI opener, noted England have showed his team the way forward.

Eoin Morgan’s side, a laughing stock at the 2015 World Cup, have transformed into tournament favourites under the guidance of Trevor Bayliss.

Australia lost to New Zealand in the early stages of the 1999 World Cup.Source:News Corp Australia

“Everyone knows their role really well and does it really well in that team,” Hazlewood said.

“We want to get our team starting to shape up. Shore up what we want for the World Cup, get those combinations right.”

But recent experimentation shows how Australia’s World Cup plans are still a work in progress.

Some 20 Australians have made their ODI debut since the 2015 World Cup. Ben McDermott could soon become the 21st, having been summoned into Australia’s one- day squad as concerns linger over Shaun Marsh’s fitness.

Of that group of fresh faces, keeper and vice-captain Alex Carey appears the only certainty to make the World Cup squad.

The batting order has been repeatedly rejigged and reshuffled in recent years, both in terms of personnel and positions, but nothing has stopped the collapses.

Adam Zampa is no guarantee of going to England.Source:AAP

Since the 2015 World Cup, Smith, Warner and Aaron Finch have scored a combined 19 of Australia’s 26 ODI centuries.

Even the bowling attack remains in a state of flux. Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins are automatic selections if fit but competition is fierce among the fast-bowling support acts.

Legspinner Adam Zampa, dumped for a 5-0 series loss in England this year then recalled for the current series, is no more certain about his place in the spin pecking order and could easily be leapfrogged by Ashton Agar or Nathan Lyon.

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