Big guns set to fire

THE big guns are back for the unofficial start of Australia’s World Cup defence in Sri Lanka, as the team prepares to take commercial flights again for the first time in the Covid era.

After being frequently rested from white-ball cricket in recent times, superstars Pat Cummins, David Warner and Josh Hazlewood are all set to return to coloured clothing for three Twenty20s and five ODIS against Sri Lanka in June, with the squad to be named on Friday. The worldclass trio, along with fellow IPL guns Aaron Finch, Marcus Stoinis and Glenn Maxwell, may have just one day at home in Australia after their commitments in India before jetting off for a white-ball series that essentially kicks off the title defence for the allconquering T20 outfit this year on home soil.

Mitchell Starc was also rested from Australia’s most recent white-ball matches against Pakistan and returns to spearhead the attack in Sri Lanka, which is the first of a number of warm-up T20 series Australia has scheduled before their World Cup campaign launches on October 22 at the SCG.

Steve Smith is back too after he was rested from the Pakistan white-ball games to allow a nagging elbow problem time to heal.

After being forced to spend the past two years under the protection of chartered flights and restrictive bubbles, Australia is meeting the brave new Covid world head-on by planning to return to the old days of flying commercially.

Despite the risks, the change gives selectors and players greater flexibility because they no longer have to take massive squads overseas for long periods, given that replacement players can be flown in reasonably quickly.

Cricket Australia will have to carefully manage their players leading into the World Cup due to the heavy schedule laid out, while still ensuring the team has the chance to jell and rediscover its mojo and combinations before fighting to retain its T20 crown in front of home fans.

After Sri Lanka, Australia will host Zimbabwe and New Zealand for white-ball matches in Townsville and Cairns – with three T20s to be played against the Black Caps up in the tropics.

Then Australia is to fly to India for a hit-and-run T20 series in September, before returning home to play against West Indies and England in pre-world Cup warm-ups in early October.

Australia’s T20 side is expected to stay largely the same to the one that won the World Cup in the UAE.