Do Australia have too many batsmen, enough spinners and can the pace ace keep up his frightening form?
Five burning ODI series questions
While Australia have lost their No.1 Test team crown, they are still the kings of one-day cricket.
The 3-0 whitewash to Sri Lanka saw the Australians slip to No.3 on the Test rankings, handing over the ICC Test Mace before they could lug it home.
That’s not the case in the 50-over format. Australia have been the dominant nation in one-day internationals since the turn of the millennium and will no doubt take a lot of confidence into the five-match ODI series against Sri Lanka starting on Sunday in Colombo.
The Test series loss has left a number of questions marks surrounding the make-up and tactics of the Test XI, but here we examine the world champion Australian ODI team, a team with new personnel and a few questions of their own to be answered.
Who makes Australia’s top order?
Australia’s selectors had a similar headache in the World T20 in March, only this one is one batsman stronger – six top-order batsmen and only four spots.
Aaron Finch, David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Steve Smith and George Bailey are the six specialist batsmen vying for the first four batting positions.
The leadership duo of Smith and Warner are guaranteed two spots, while Finch is tipped to reunite with Warner at the top of the order.
That leaves Khawaja, Marsh and Bailey left to fight for the final spot, with the former pair likely to bat at first-drop if either is selected, while Smith would be expected to bat at No.3 if the Tasmanian gets the nod.
Marsh’s comeback century in Colombo holds him in good stead, while Khawaja’s severe drop in form might see the left-hander miss out.
Bailey has been the rock of Australia’s ODI middle-order. The 33-year-old has played 76 ODIs including 29 games as captain, and scored a century against India in Perth in January.
Bailey also boasts a remarkable record in Asia, averaging 58.54 in 13 innings with a top score of 156.
Who will replace Mitchell Marsh?
The younger Marsh in the squad was sent home following the third Test defeat in Colombo on Wednesday.
Bupa Support Team Head Coach Lehmann said the allrounder was released to rest up ahead of a busy summer where he’ll again carry a heavy workload.
As he has done in the Baggy Green, Marsh has batted primarily at No.6 in his ODI career. But in June’s 50-over tri-series in the Caribbean, the 24-year-old was elevated to third-drop in Australia’s final three matches.
Marsh’s absence leaves a hole in the middle order and Smith a bowler short. A like-for-like replacement could be NSW allrounder Moises Henriques.
Henriques batted at No.5 in the third Test earlier this week, and although he only bowled two overs, he is capable of rolling the arm over with the new or old ball.
If Lehmann and the selectors decide a few overs of spin would be more valuable than Henriques’s medium pace, Travis Head with his off-spinners could be called upon.
Head was drafted in to the Australian squad for the final Test, and with an extra week in Sri Lanka his additional exposure to the subcontinent could be vital.
Will spin be a factor?
Given Australia’s susceptibility to spin bowling, as was seen in the Test series, it’s hard to imagine Sri Lanka won’t stock their side with slow bowlers.
While there’s no Rangana Herath to torment the Australians, the hosts still possess plenty of spin threats, including Lakshan Sandakan, Dilruwan Perera and Amila Aponso.
The three Test surfaces provided ample assistance for the spin bowlers, but Australia opener Finch says the wickets for the limited-overs series might play a little fairer.
"There’s not as much wear and tear (on a one-day pitch as a five-day Test wicket)," Finch said when asked if the pitch at Premadasa Stadium resembled a five-day wicket.
"You assume that the wicket is going to generally be pretty true.
"There might be a little bit of spin there which makes it hard to score when you first come in against spin.
"One-day wickets around the world are pretty consistent and pretty true.
"But we’ll have to wait and see.
"They might shave all the grass and dry it out a bit more and it might turn big."
Will Australia play two spinners?
If the wickets are as true as Finch predicts, there might only be room for one spinner in Australia’s starting XI.
South Australia leg-spinner Adam Zampa is the first-choice spinner in the touring party, supported by Test spinner Nathan Lyon.
Zampa played in the final of the ODI tri-series in June, taking the key wicket of power hitter Kieron Pollard in Australia’s 58-run win.
Lyon and Zampa played two matches together in that series, but Zampa was picked as the preferred spinner for the back end of the tournament.
With no Glenn Maxwell in the visitors’ squad, the part-time overs of spin could fall to Head, and if that’s the case he would complement Zampa’s leggies.
And while Lyon has been toiling away with the red ball, Zampa has been playing with the white ball in the Caribbean Premier League.
Australia’s strength is their fast bowling attack, led by the incomparable Mitchell Starc, which could mean only one specialist tweaker will find his name on the team sheet.
Can Starc repeat his Test heroics?
Starc returned to Test cricket in spectacular fashion in the series loss to Sri Lanka, taking 24 wickets in three matches.
The 26-year-old hadn’t played a Test match since breaking his foot in the inaugural day-night Test last November, but whatever rust remained was quickly shaken off with a tremendous display of swing bowling with the new ball and reverse swing with the old.
His five games in the Caribbean tri-series yielded eight wickets and provided the perfect opportunity to blow off the cobwebs after seven months out of the game.
Starc’s strike rate (24.6) and average (19.79) puts him in the upper echelon of 50-over bowlers, and the left-armer is just two scalps away from 100 in ODI cricket.
Former Australia fast bowler Craig McDermott believes Star’s imperious Test form has made the left-armer the "complete package".
"I think he (Starc) has come a long way in the last 18 months, two years," McDermott told The Unplayable Podcast.
"The Ashes before that (the 2015 series in England) his red-ball bowling wasn’t up to scratch but he his red-ball bowling is right up there now.
"He’s the best one-day bowler and T20 bowler in the world.
"He’s a complete package and can smack the ball and is a great fielder.
"He’d have to be No.1 picked in our team for all three forms going forward."