Australia go into Cricket World Cup 2019 as the defending champions and looking to maintain their fine record in the tournament where they have won the last four stagings of it outside of Asia. They look to have come good at the right time and can never be ruled out on the global stage so a big challenge is expected from the men from Down Under.
Profile
Captain: Aaron Finch
Previous Best: Winners x5
Key Players: Steve Smith & Mitchell Starc
Best Odds: 7/2 General
Fixtures
June 1: vs Afghanistan at Bristol (d/n)
June 6: vs West Indies at Trent Bridge
June 9: vs India at The Oval
June 12: vs Pakistan at Taunton
June 15: vs Sri Lanka at The Oval
June 20: vs Bangladesh at Trent Bridge
June 25: vs England at Lord’s
June 29: vs New Zealand at Lord’s (d/n)
July 6: vs South Africa at Old Trafford (d/n)
Squad
Aaron Finch (c), David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith, Shaun Marsh, Alex Carey, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Adam Zampa, Nathan Lyon, Kane Richardson
Team Guide
Naturally there will be a lot of focus, attention and scrutiny on Steve Smith and Dave Warner in this tournament but there is no denying that they make this Australia side a more formidable one in terms of the batting department. They can now play the extra all-rounder to add power to their batting and options with the ball – two things that are vital in modern ODI cricket.
Australia look to have one of the leading bowling attacks in the competition and that can never be taken for granted. Those bowlers will need to remain fit of course, but if they can do that Australia will be very confident about their chances. Another thing that shouldn’t be underestimated is their knowledge of how to win this thing. Their coaching staff have all won it in the past and that experience could be crucial.
Betting
I am already on an Australian batsman to be the leading run scorer in the tournament and on one of their bowlers to take the most wickets in terms of Steve Smith and Pat Cummins so the decision really is whether I want to take on two decent challengers in Dave Warner and Mitchell Starc for their respective Australia markets. I’m pretty happy just letting the tournament outrights run. If I’m right about Australia winning the competition then both men will make significant enough contributions for returns on those investments.
There is one bet regarding Pat Cummins that I like from a solo point of view though and that is his tournament wickets line which is only 15.5. He has taken 17 wickets in his last five ODIs in India and the UAE on pitches not very conducive to his pace, bounce and general talent. He is likely to get much more of what he needs from this series and given that he will get the ball fairly early in the innings and he’ll be bowling at the death I fully expect him to go beyond 15 wickets for the tournament.
Tips
Back P.Cummins – Over 15.5 tournament wickets for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Coral
Back him here:
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