Pitches in the West Indies have been generally low and slow for close to a decade now. Last time I saw a green demon of a pitch in the West Indies, Curtly Ambrose was squaring off against Steve Waugh. That was over a decade ago now, and times have changed. Yet selections have not.

Yet Australia is trying out every Tom, Dick and Harry that bowls a decent fast medium line and length, in a desperate attempt to find someone to bowl first change after Lee and McGrath. On the sort of pitches we are likely to see in the West Indies, the likes of Dorey, Bracken, Stuart Clarke and Shane Watson are probable cannon fodder.

The sort of bowler Australia should be trying to find is one that takes the pace off the ball. The ideal counterfoil for the likes of Brett Lee is someone like Adam Dale; smart line and length, subtle variations of pace, and hard to hit. And after that, the spinners come into play. South Australia has unearthed a very useful prospect in Daniel Cullen, a young off spinner who can take wickets and keep things tight. I’d wager he would be very difficult to get away in the West Indies.

New Zealand used to have a stack of military medium pacers who would do very well; Gavin Larsen, Chris Harris, combined with the spin of Daniel Vettori. If any nation is going to do what Sri Lanka did in 1996 and win from no-where, New Zealand could be the team to do it. They have a more conventional attack these days, but they play well in these tournaments, and the conditions will suit.

It must be said that Australia is not the only country to fall into this mistake. The West Indies themselves still pine for the glory days and try to find another Marshall, Walsh or Ambrose. England also seem to be placing all their eggs on their excellent pace attack. Given their new status as the masters of reverse swing, this may not be so dangerous, but England still won’t find bowling conditions easy.

It just surprises me that not only selectors but also writers fail to take into account the nature of the pitches as they make their final preparations. If the World Cup were in India, you would be sure all nations would be scouring the lands for new spin talent.

Whatever happened to Brett's big brother Shane?
Another aspect: Some of the pitches will be good for spinners and Australia need some wristy support for Damien Martyn to counter good spinners on those. A number of other teams are aiming to introduce young spinners to break the monotony of medium pace change bowlers, and Bandara's recent success may see the theory continue.

Is Ian Harvey still playing First Class? That guy had Slower balls and Change-up's galore..helluva bowler, Symonds is a (bowling) peasant compared to Harvey.
Also, are there no Left-arm pace bowlers apart from Bracken?

Shane Lee retired two years ago, I think. Not sure what Ian Harvey is doing these days or even where he is, but like Scott I'm surprised Australia have shown little interest in Daniel Cullen so far.

He's the lad that one the Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year Award, isn't he? I remember he took a few wickets against Pakistan, in a warm up game we had on the last tour against a Western Australian 2nd XI, we lost this game believe it or not.

You'd also think looking at Cullen's hair, that he'd make the Aussie team straight away, given Australia seem to have a tradition of picking bowlers with shocking barnets, you could almost be forgiven for thinking bad hair was a prerequisite for selection.

More seriously, I'm also surprised they've not given Cameroon White more chances, think he played one game as super sub some where during the summer, but that might be about it as far as I can remember. He's a decent leggie and can bat really well.

If Warnie isn't planning to come back from retirement, he might be some one Australia might want to add to their World Cup plans.

I think Ian Harvey called it quits with Victoria and played out his career with Kwazulu Natal or someone.

Feroz, you were asking about left-armers. Well, the selectors are seriously interested in a young Queenslander named Mitchell Johnson. I've seen him bowl, and he's very good- fairly quick, but also very accurate. He's definetaly better than Bracken, although this isn't saying much.

But with regards to the spinners, why fix what isn't broken? The West's own Hogg has done everything anyone could possibly ask of him; as bowler, as fielder and as batsman. And all I can say about White is, if we now have to look to him to win us matches, I think it'll be a LONG ten years for Australian cricket.

Shane Lee rtired at 29, injuries forced him out.

Apparently Ian Harvey is still playing cricket. His player card shows him to be an active first class cricketer in the 2005/2006 season. There was this little piece in the news recently that he had signed a deal with Western Province in SA. So good luck Ian.

As good a cricketer he is/was, I always found him highly overrated and to certain extent he actually overachieved. Given the proliferation of talent, especially bowling talent, in Australia, I think Harvey should consider himself lucky for playing roughly as many ODI's as Damien Fleming, Paul Reiffel etc. (give or take a few) and many more than Kasprowicz. His batting numbers are modest, if at all any better than poor. I honestly never found him to be any more potent or irritating than Mark Ealham of England, who, for more than half a decade, was the silent, invisible stalwart of England's one-day team. I think Harvey got the hype because he was a GOD at Gloucestershire, turning up remarkable performances year after year, especially in limited overs cricket in England.

Well if the Supersub rule is going to be scrapped then Australia may have to rethink its bowling line up for the World Cup. This is because they have been playing 4 main bowlers in the VB series and then relying on Symonds to be the fifth bowler. But in every game of the VB series they have also chosen a bowling substitute (Hogg, Hopes, Clark, Dorey & Lewis were chosen) so that there has been more options available if needed.

Therefore if the Supersub rule is going to be scrapped, will Australia be able to keep the same structure to their team as in the VB series and be able to rely on Symonds predominantly as the fifth bowler?

Of course there are the other options of Clarke & Hussey but I doubt Ponting will want to be relying on them during the World Cup.

Being an Englishman I'd be happy if they kept Symonds as the 5th bowler because, with an average close to 38 and an economy of above 5 an over in the recent VB series, I feel that most teams could pick him out before a match & target his bowling as one to attack. I wouldn't want to rely on him in the latter stages of a tournament.

However the Aussies need his batting & he does bowl a few good overs but to rely on 10 overs from him - no way!

I think that one of the batsmen (Martyn, Katich or Clarke) has to be replaced by an allrounder. My choice would be Shane Watson who adds some quality & destructive batting lower down the batting order & some pace with the ball too.

However we'll have to wait & see if the Supersub rule is abolished I guess!

Jay

Fair point. I think the only reasons Harvey got so much publicity were his death bowling (where his slower bowls were quite useful) and his brilliant fielding, which earned him the knickname the Freak. He probably wasn't better than Ealham, but he was definitely more glitzy.

As for Watson, between him and White, Australia certainly have an embarrasment of lack of riches among our up-and-coming players.

RE: S Watson

That's what I was thinking. What has Watson done lately, or EVER, in international cricket for Australia to believe he's the second coming of Sir Gary. Apart from blasting a whole bunch of hundreds a couple of domestic seasons ago, I really do not see anything outstanding on his resume. Unless recommendations from academy and state-level coaches count, I'm not sure what Watson has to show for his international credentials. Besides he'll be 25 in a few months. I'm telling you, this guy is not the answer to Australia's allrounder search. Maybe Henriques is.

well i think the aussies are doing injustice to a player like ian harvey he should get a few more chances but i would not like to consider symonds as a bad bowling option because he has variety and can matches on his own.

india will win