Six unlucky World Cup omissions

Peter Handscomb

The very definition of unlucky, Peter Handscomb could hardly have done much more since winning a recall in January, but the returns of Steve Smith and David Warner mean he’s been forced out of the squad. The Victorian averaged 43 in 13 ODIs this year, including a superb maiden one-day hundred, and his strike rate in that time of 98 is elite, especially for a player more renowned as a steady accumulator of runs than a big hitter. His ability to keep wickets even had some suggesting he could take the gloves at the World Cup, but the returns of Smith and Warner combined with the hot recent form of Usman Khawaja and Shaun Marsh means he’s missed out altogether.

Josh Hazlewood

It would have been almost unthinkable six months ago for Josh Hazlewood to be overlooked for Australia’s World Cup campaign, but selectors have opted against rushing him back from injury and will instead look to unleash him in the Ashes in August. The top-ranked ODI bowler in the world less than two years ago, Hazlewood hasn’t played a role in Australia’s recent ODI resurgence, with the likes of Pat Cummins and Jhye Richardson impressing everyone while the tall right-armer has been sidelined by injury. With Mitchell Starc hard to ignore when it comes to white-ball cricket and the likes of Nathan Coulter-Nile and Jason Behrendorff also impressing in recent months, selectors have made the hard call to leave Hazlewood out.

Ashton Turner

Despite guiding Australia to one of their greatest one-day victories just a month ago, there’s no room in the squad for impressive ODI rookie Ashton Turner. The right-hander’s brutal unbeaten 84 against India in March has to be regarded as one of the great ODI knocks by an Australian in recent years, but the depth of batting talent means – like Handscomb – he’s missed out on a maiden Cup campaign. The writing had been on the wall after he was overlooked for the recent five-match series against Pakistan, but he would have surely been discussed by selectors after such an impressive start to his ODI career.

Kane Richardson

Like Hazlewood, Richardson is a victim of the depth of Australia’s fast-bowling options, having done little wrong in his few chances in the side in the past 18 months. The right-armer’s reputation as a death-bowling specialist could have worked in his favour and earned him a spot, but selectors have instead opted for the wicket-taking potency of Nathan Coulter-Nile and Jason Behrendorff.

Matthew Wade

Wade was always an outside chance to win a World Cup spot after selectors had shown faith in Alex Carey all summer, but his sheer weight of runs means he would have been hard to dismiss without a second thought. Carey has been a solid performer during Australia’s recent winning streak, but Wade’s versatility with the bat – he opens at domestic level but has played most of his ODI cricket at No.7 – means he offered an attractive package. The form player in domestic cricket over the summer, the left-hander will instead look to continue his good form on the Australia A tour of the UK.

D’Arcy Short

Consecutive Player-of-the-Tournament awards in the Big Bash and an impressive JLT Cup for WA hasn’t been enough for D’Arcy Short to win a permanent spot in Australia’s one-day side. Having failed to take his chance on debut in England last year, Short was dismissed for a duck in his only ODI last summer before Australia’s poor run of results saw selectors completely revamp their one-day side. Those moves have been justified by the recent form resurgence, but there’s no doubt Short is doing everything he can domestically to get another taste of the top level soon.

Australia's World Cup fixtures

May 25: (warm-up) England v Australia, Southampton

May 27: (warm-up) Australia v Sri Lanka, Southampton

June 1: Afghanistan v Australia, Bristol (D/N)

June 6: Australia v West Indies, Trent Bridge

June 9: India v Australia, The Oval

June 12: Australia v Pakistan, Taunton

June 15: Sri Lanka v Australia, The Oval

June 20: Australia v Bangladesh, Trent Bridge

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

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