World Cup spots on the line in domestic One Dayers

Australia’s squad for the upcoming 50-over World Cup is wide open, with as many as five spots up for grabs following the team’s disappointing tour of Zimbabwe.

Emerging players like batsman Steve Smith, and quicks Kane Richardson and Ben Cutting all failed to take their opportunities in Zimbabwe.

It is expected countries will be allowed 16 players in their World Cup squad.

Right now there are only 11 Australian players who are certainties if fit – Michael Clarke, David Warner, Shane Watson, Aaron Finch, George Bailey, Glenn Maxwell, Mitch Marsh, Brad Haddin, James Faulkner, Mitchell Johnson and Mitchell Starc.

In addition to those players, Australia will likely want two quicks, a backup batsman, a frontline spinner and another all-rounder.

This situation will add significant intrigue to the domestic One Day Cup, which starts tomorrow. So which players involved in this competition are the leading candidates to squeeze into Australia’s World Cup squad?

Cutting and Richardson will be at the head of the pace pack.

Queenslander Cutting must be unsure where he stands with the Australian selectors, with his four ODI appearances spread out across 18 months. He was selected for the recent triangular series against South Africa and Zimbabwe but played in just one of Australia’s five matches. In that outing, an embarrassing loss to Zimbabwe, he was given only six overs, returning 0-18. Cutting was overlooked for Australia’s ODI squad for the upcoming tour of the United Arab Emirates against Pakistan.

Last summer, it was his destructive lower-order hitting which brought him attention. But with Australia well stocked for batting all-rounders he will need to be incisive with the ball over the coming weeks to stake a World Cup claim.

Richardson’s position in the pace pecking order is also uncertain. He, too, has played four ODIs spread across a period of 18 months. Like Cutting, the 23-year-old went to Zimbabwe but made next to no impression, with three wickets at 45 from his three matches. He also is much better suited to Australian conditions, given his attacking style of bowling.

The selectors will be looking for Richardson to gain consistent swing with the new ball in the One Day Cup.

Forgotten former ODI spearhead Clint McKay will also be keen to showcase his ability to curve the white ball for Victoria. Despite being the eighth-ranked ODI bowler in the world, McKay has fallen out of favour after a relatively brief form trough. The tall seamer owns a brilliant ODI record of 97 wickets at 24, but lost his spot after averaging 49 over his past 10 matches.

Given his sensational record in Australia, where he has taken 60 ODI wickets at 19, he is likely to make the World Cup squad if he bowls solidly in the domestic competition.

Aside from that trio, there is a clutch of fast bowlers returning from injury whose short-term future is not clear. Tasmanian swing bowler Jackson Bird, NSW beanpole Josh Hazlewood and Western Australia strike bowler Nathan Coulter-Nile are all on the comeback from injuries.

That trio are rated highly by the selectors, and any of them could leapfrog Cutting and Richardson into the World Cup squad if they return to peak touch over the next month.

Hazlewood’s young NSW teammate Gurinder Sandhu is another quick in the frame for the World Cup. He was fifth on the wicket-taking tally in last year’s domestic 50-over competition, with 11 wickets at 28 from seven matches. The 21-year-old may not be overly quick but he is precise and has the ability to make the ball deviate off the seam.

Although pace will be the key to Australia’s attack on hard home decks in the World Cup, they will choose at least one specialist spinner.

On the tour of Zimbabwe, Test tweaker Nathan Lyon was given his first proper crack at ODIs. He responded well, bowling with good flight and extracting sharp turn at times on dry decks. He finished as the second-highest wicket-taker in that series, behind South African paceman Dale Steyn, with seven wickets at 26 from his four matches.

Lyon did enough to retain his spot for the current tour of the UAE against Pakistan. But he is yet to bed down his berth for the World Cup.

Australia’s handling of slow bowlers has been so unpredictable since the retirement of leg-spin legend Shane Warne that any number of domestic tweakers will feel they are a chance of edging out Lyon.

Chief among those would be Tasmanian left armer Xavier Doherty, who had a lengthy stint in the ODI side before being usurped by Lyon. Doherty had a solid start to his ODI career before a prolonged trough saw him dumped.

Fellow left-armer Jon Holland, from Victoria, has long been on the radar of the Australian selectors, but has been besieged by injuries. He was the leading wicket taker among spinners in last year’s domestic One Day Cup, and will again be an important player for Victoria.

Queensland leg spinner Cameron Boyce is an outside chance of challenging for a Word Cup spot. Boyce was Australia A’s frontline spinner throughout their recent first-class and 50-over matches against South Africa A and India A, but he struggled for impact, taking just five wickets at 55 across seven 50-over matches. Boyce is an attacking option but his lack of control would make him a risky proposition at international level.

On the batting front, the Australian ODI side is more settled, with David Warner, Aaron Finch, Shane Watson, Michael Clarke and George Bailey set in stone as the top five.

The number six spot will be raffled between batting all-rounders Maxwell and Mitch Marsh. Given the generous size of the World Cup squad, Australia will probably select a third all-rounder.

Versatile NSW player Moises Henriques will be looking to dominate the domestic one-dayers to ensure he grabs this spot. Henriques is a dependable and frugal medium-pacer, but runs will be his chief currency.

Former ODI all-rounder Dan Christian is perhaps his closest rival, having had an impressive 50-over campaign for Victoria last summer. Christian thrived in a new role at the top of the order for the Bushrangers after being a specialist finisher with the bat while in coloured clothing for Australia.

Among the specialist batsmen, South Australian strokemakers Tom Cooper and Callum Ferguson will be closely monitored by the Australian selectors. Both represented Australia A in the recent 50-over triangular tournament against South Africa A and India A, with Cooper making 138 runs at an average of 46 and Ferguson 127 runs at 32. Ferguson had a bright start to his ODI career in 2009 before it was derailed by injury.

Another player whose international career has stalled is Queensland top-order batsman Usman Khawaja. Khawaja has managed just three ODIs, the last of which came 18 months ago, but he said recently he viewed that format as his most likely avenue back into the Australian set-up.

He was prolific in 50-over cricket for the Bulls last summer, coming second on the competition run tally with 426 runs at 71. Khawaja is one of more than a dozen State players with realistic chances of earning a World Cup berth over the next month.