Australia Team Preview ICC Cricket World Cup 2019

India and England are the two favorites going into the 2019 World Cup but if there is one side that you simply cannot ignore when it comes to a World Cup event, its Australia, which has been the most successful team in the history of World Cup competition.

Australia has been the side to beat in World Cups and the fact that they’ve won five of the 11 editions is a testimony to their dominance on the global stage. The most successful side in the history of World Cup cricket, things haven’t been in a hunky dory for the Australians in ODI cricket since their triumph at home four seasons ago. For the major part of the past four years, Australia looked like a side that was still coming into terms with the demands of modern-day cricket. 

In the 76 ODIs that the defending champions have played since the 2015 World Cup, the Australians won just 37 of them, and if you take out their latest eight-match winning streak, the side has struggled to produce consistency in one-day cricket.

Part of the reason for Australia’s rapidly declining fortunes even when Smith and Warner were around, was the lack of firepower and consistency in their middle-order. And, so when the Aussies came to India on the back of 22 losses in their last 26 matches, no one gave them a chance to even compete. But, the Australians reminded of their never say die attitude and found new heroes during the course of the series as they triumphed India by a margin of 3-2. The likes of Khuwaja and Marsh stepped up big time in the absence of Smith & Warner and with Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis forming a belligerent lower-order.

Now that Smith and Warner are back, Australia’s main challenge will be how they integrate their two superstars in the batting unit. Warner showcased that his hunger for runs is still intact during the recently concluded IPL while Smith squashed away all the concerns regarding his form and fitness with a match-winning hundred in the warm-up game against England.

Their batting may not be as potent as it used to be in the past but there is little doubt that the Australians boast of one of the most formidable bowling attacks in the tournament. Despite the absence of the consistent Josh Hazlewood, the Australians have enough variety in their bowling attack with Pat Cummins, Jason Behrendorff, Mitchell Starc, Kane Richardson and Nathan Coulter-Nile forming an enviable pace unit backed up by the spin duo of Lyon and Adam Zampa.

The return of Steve Smith and David Warner coupled with their recent resurgence have put the defending champions back into the fray of leading contenders. Whether they’ll win the tournament or not is a different matter but one thing is for sure if they make it to the top-4, their experience of competing and winning on a big day will hold them in good stead.

Australia World Cup Squad

Captain - Aaron Finch

Batsmen – David Warner, Usman Khuwaja, Steven Smith, Shaun Marsh, Alex Carey

David Warner will be looking to make an impression after being suspended for 12 months for his alleged involvement in spot-fixing in Cape Town against South Africa. Warner has shown exceptional form in the recently concluded Indian Premier League and scored close to 600 runs in the competition. There is no doubt that Warner can play an instrumental in helping Australia successfully defend their crown.

All-rounders - Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis

Glenn Maxwell is one player that can change the complexion of the game in a space of few overs. All-rounder can also pick up wickets with his off-spin.

Bowlers – Pat Cummins, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Mitchell Starc, Kane Richardson, Nathan Lyon, Adam Zampa

Pat Cummins has shown splendid form with the ball for Australia this season. He was instrumental in helping Australia win the bilateral one-day series in India. Cummins also played a couple of World Cup games for Australia in the previous edition.

Australia History in the tournament

The West Indies may have dominated the first three editions of the World Cup but its far to say that Australia has owned the marquee tournament since then. After coming agonizingly close to World Cup glory in 1975, the Aussies got their first taste of WC triumph when Alan Border’s side completed a seven-run win over Ashes rivals England in front of 90,000 people at the Eden Gardens in 1987.

Since the 1987 triumph, there have been only two instances where the Aussies have failed to qualify for the finals: 1992 & 2011. Barring these two events, the Australians have found themselves competing for glory on every occasion. While they were beaten in the 1996 finals by a rampaging Sri Lankan outfit, the Aussies more than made up for it by clinching three back-to-back titles in 1999, 2003 & 2007.

If 1999 World Cup win saw Australia work their way to the finals before eventually swatting aside Pakistan in the finals at Lord’s, victories in the 2003 & 2007 edition saw the Kangaroos establish their dominance on the event. They remained unbeaten in both the World Cups and the finals turned into a mere formality as it did in 1999.

Such was Australia’s dominance during that period that they remained undefeated in 38 successive World Cup games; a streak that stretched through three World Cups [1999, 2003 & 2011]. The streak was finally broken by Pakistan in 2011 World Cup before India ended their reign as World Champions by beating them in the Quarter-finals. Four years later, Australia regained the World Cup for a record fifth time when they beat New Zealand by seven wickets at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground. Here is Australia performance throughout the previous cricket world cup tournaments and the respective champions:

• 1975 Finals, West Indies
• 1979 Group Stage, West Indies
• 1983 Group Stage, India
• 1987 Champions, Australia
• 1992 Group Stage, Pakistan
• 1996 Finalists, Sri Lanka
• 1999 Champions, Australia
• 2003 Champions, Australia
• 2007 Champions, Australia
• 2011 Quarter-finals, India
• 2015 Champions, Australia

Latest News

• Peter Handscomb was not selected for this year’s World Cup despite his consistent string of scores for Australia this season
• Pace bowler Jhye Richardson was ruled out of World Cup due to injury. Kane Richardson was named as a replacement for Jhye Richardson

Australia World Cup Schedule

• 01 June Bristol Australia vs Afghanistan 05:00 PM
• 06 June Nottingham Australia vs West Indies 03:00 PM
• 09 June London Australia vs India 03:00 PM
• 12 June Taunton Australia vs Pakistan 03:00 PM
• 15 June London Australia vs Sri Lanka 03:00 PM
• 20 June Nottingham Australia vs Bangladesh 03:00 PM
• 25 June London Australia vs England 03:00 PM
• 29 June London Australia vs New Zealand 05:00 PM
• 06 July Manchester Australia vs South Africa 05:00 PM

Australia Cricket World Cup Prediction

At Betrally, Australia is placed at third place to Win 2019 Cricket World Cup and outright odds are 5.00

Australia is expected to qualify for the semifinals of the competition. The side will definitely beat teams like South Africa, Pakistan, West Indies, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh.

In the Player of the Tournament category, the outright odds for David Warner are 13.00. The side has done well in limited-overs for the past five months. 

Cricket World Cup Betting Tips and Predictions

For all the news and updates related to the Australian cricket team, you can check circbettingbuzz.com. Cricket Punters, who will be supporting Australia in this year’s World Cup, can place their bets on their favorite with our selected list of premium cricket betting sites. Also, you can check our cricket prediction articles for the 2019 Cricket World Cup to get more information on your favorite team and their scheduled games in the competition.