Aussies to continue allrounder-heavy ODI approach

Australia are fine-tuning an all-out attack approach to one-day cricket that they hope could help deliver them a sixth men's World Cup crown next year.

An aggressive team line-up that has seen the likes of Glenn Maxwell or Cameron Green used as low as No.8 in the batting order looks set to again be deployed during the Aussies' three-game Dettol ODI series against England from next week.

Australia ODI squad: Pat Cummins (c), Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa

It is a strategy that leans into the bevy of talented allrounders at Australia's disposal in white-ball cricket, with Green's emergence adding to a growing list of multi-skilled players like Maxwell, Mitch Marsh, Marcus Stoinis, Ashton Agar and even Marnus Labuschagne.

"When you get to a World Cup you want to have a couple of ways of trying to win a tournament," selection chief George Bailey told reporters as Australia cast their gaze to next year's 50-over event in India.

"At this stage we expect that India will be reasonably good batting wickets for that World Cup – so looking at different ways of being able to exploit a longer batting line-up and some pretty handy all-round skill sets with some of those bowlers.

"That's obviously an option. We've been talking about trying to play that that team for 12 or 18 months and clearly it relies a lot on the fitness and health of a number of players.

"You can throw Ashton Agar into that mix as well, in terms of a bit of extra batting … you've got some options there to keep batting deep."

It not a dissimilar approach to the one taken by the 2015 World Cup side featuring Bailey that saw allrounder James Faulkner or wicketkeeper Brad Haddin at No.8 and Marsh, Maxwell and Shane Watson taking on big roles with the ball.

Against England in the series beginning next week in Adelaide, that model could allow Australia to rotate through their three main fast bowlers in Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc, as well as star allrounder Green.

All four will need adhere to workload restrictions ahead of the five-Test home summer, explained Bailey.

"There will be some guys who need to do a certain amount of bowling," he said. "But it is one of the very few games that we've got in the lead up to the World Cup, so they're still important games.

"But we're conscious that given the proximity to the Test series… just making sure that that bowling load matches up with being able to perform is really important."

Yet, as Bailey noted, the approach is highly dependent on the availability of Australia's seam-bowling allrounders, who have been prone to injury.

Green suffered a litany of back injuries in his early years and while he has avoided any major issues since graduating to the Test side, the two-metre-tall prodigy will need to be managed even more carefully given he is now on the verge of being a regular in all three formats.

Marsh and Stoinis have both battled ailments throughout their international careers. The two Western Australians each regained bowling fitness just before (or in Marsh's case, during) the recent T20 World Cup. They will be 32 and 34-years-old respectively by the time the next ODI World Cup is held.

While not a fast bowler, spinner Agar was also under a cloud leading into this year's T20 tournament, having suffered two side strains in a matter of months.

It means that Australia are wary of putting all their eggs in the allrounder basket, though Bailey suggested batter-friendly pitches in India could make the strategy more desirable.

"It allows you to be attacking for longer," he said. "It lends itself to looking to expose allrounders and build some skillsets.

"And if that happens to work out that those skillsets grow enough that they can become a really valuable package then eight batters does become a really viable option."

Men's Dettol ODI Series v England

Thursday Nov 17: Adelaide Oval, 1:50pm

Saturday Nov 19: SCG, 2:20pm

Tuesday Nov 22: MCG, 2:20pm

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