The pair’s eligibility for selection after serving one-year bans complicated matters for selectors, who were forced to choose from a surprisingly deep group of in-form candidates heading into the tournament.
Roar cricket Expert Glenn Mitchell joined Editor Daniel Jeffrey on the opening episode of the Game of Codes podcast to uncover the winners and losers from the squad announcement, leading to a debate over the true cost of naming Australia’s former captain and vice-captain in the squad.
Australia’s World Cup squad: Aaron Finch (c), Alex Carey (vc), Usman Khawaja, David Warner, Steve Smith, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Pat Cummins, Jhye Richardson, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jason Behrendorff, Adam Zampa, Nathan Lyon.
In-form batsman Peter Handscomb is perhaps the most surprising omission from the squad after a solid run of form, with Josh Hazlewood also nudged out of the bowling attack after struggling with injury lately.