Cup cameo shines light on 'calm' Aussie camp

Australia A spinner Ashton Agar got a first-hand glimpse inside Australia's World Cup squad this week, and he was amazed with what he saw.

Agar was summoned into camp last Tuesday to act as a body double of Bangladesh's ace left-arm spinner Shakib al-Hasan ahead of Thursday's clash at Trent Bridge, which Australia won by 48 runs.

While the pace of Mitch Starc and Pat Cummins and power-hitting of David Warner and Aaron Finch was typically impressive, it was the relaxed, calm feel of the defending World Cup champions that struck Agar the most.  

"The feeling was probably as good as I've seen for a long time in that group," Agar told cricket.com.au on Friday.  

"They just seem really calm. There was a good sense of togetherness but it's more the calm.

"Around big tournaments like that I think people can get really worked up, you can over-analyse everything. But it was pretty relaxed going into a big training session.

"And everyone was firing. The bowlers were bowling really well, the batters were hitting the ball cleanly. It was a good, competitive environment.  

"They were fielding well. I was even watching their throwing and I was really impressed.  

"Everything looks like it's building really nicely and seeing their totals gradually increase throughout the tournament, that's a good sign and hopefully they peak at the right time and it looks that way."

It's hard to measure Agar's influence but Shakib's return of 0-50 from six overs suggests the Australians comfortably handled Bangladesh's brilliant allrounder.

Coach Justin Langer has worked tirelessly on reshaping the Australian team’s persona in the wake of the 2018 ball-tampering incident in South Africa, and it appears he has his squad right where he wants them as the business stage of the World Cup approaches.

Throughout the Asian tours against India and Pakistan earlier this year, the resounding theme from Australia's squad members was the closeness of the group and the positive vibe in the changeroom.  

That goodwill seems to have followed the Australians to the UK and with the additions of Steve Smith, Warner and Starc bolstering the team, Langer's side is one of the favourites to take out the title.

Along with the sense of calm at training, Agar also picked up on the furious form of Warner, who two days later struck 166 in Australia's 5-381.

"I enjoyed bowling to them in the nets," he said.  

"I'm not surprised Dave Warner made (166) because he was smoking them in the nets, he looked really good. He would have hit me for a few sixes."

2019 World Cup

Australia's squad: Aaron Finch (c), Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey (wk), Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa

June 1: Australia beat Afghanistan by seven wickets

June 6: Australia beat West Indies by 15 runs

June 9: Australia lost to India by 36 runs

June 12: Australia beat Pakistan by 41 runs

June 15: Australia beat Sri Lanka by 87 runs

June 20: Australia beat Bangladesh by 48 runs

June 25: England v Australia, Lord's

June 29: New Zealand v Australia, Lord's (D/N)

July 6: Australia v South Africa, Old Trafford (D/N)

July 9: Semi-Final 1, Old Trafford

July 11: Semi-Final 2, Edgbaston

July 14: Final, Lord's

Sync Australia's World Cup schedule to your calendar HERE

For a full list of all World Cup fixtures, click HERE