WC team preview: Fifth world title beckons at home for Australia

The mid-90s marked the arrival of the Australian brand of cricket, and after not making it to the last four of the edition they hosted back in 1992, they began a streak of four consecutive finals out of which they won three successive titles, only to lose it to eventual winners India in 2011. The ICC World Cup returns to their home territory, and Australia would look to give their fans a winning spectacle. There are no aching limbs in the team and under a new captain in either Michael Clarke or George Bailey, the players are raring to go in a bid to win an unprecedented fifth world title.

Group: Pool A

Captain: Michael Clarke/George Bailey

Strengths

Australia bat well and bat deep, and if their past form is anything to go by, teams will find it difficult to dislodge the four-time champions in home conditions. Clarke, Shane Watson, Steven Smith and Brad Haddin remain among the batsmen from the 2011 World Cup, but their experience will be backed up by David Warner and Aaron Finch at the top. The presence of allrounders Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell and James Faulkner gives them plenty of lower-order firepower to take them through in crunch situations.

Weaknesses

Despite having very capable bowlers in their ranks, Australia's weak link remains their bowling as a unit. Home conditions will definitely be to their advantage, but the batting Powerplay can get the better of most bowling attacks. While Mitchell Johnson remains their most experienced frontline bowler, opposition teams could put pressure on the inexperienced others, and their lone spinner in Xavier Doherty could be a weak link.

Australia have succeeded under both Clarke and stand-in captain Bailey, but in the off chance that Clarke doesn't regain his fitness, it could also put Australia under pressure without their experienced captain.

X-factor

David Warner. Playing his first World Cup, the stocky left-hander is coming off a superb year in Test cricket and would like to leave an indelible mark on the 2015 edition, much like his predecessor Matthew Hayden did in 2007. Warner's typically aggressive starts can take opposition teams by surprise and a strong Australian middle order can capitalise on that. His ability to score big also gives the team stability.

Dark horse

A format known to be cruel for bowlers can be made game-changing by them as well. Josh Hazlewood had an excellent Test debut against India, but he had put his skills on display in the preceding one-day series against South Africa and emerged as one of the finds of the series for Australia. Hazlewood's five-wicket haul came in a losing cause, but he impressed with his pace and was almost a leaf out of Glenn McGrath's book of accuracy. He put behind a modest ODI debut in 2010, and looks a bowler for the future for Australia.

ODI form guide (last six months)

Australia-South Africa-Zimbabwe tri-series: Lost in final (Away)

v Pakistan: Won 3-0 (Away)

v South Africa: Won 4-1 (Home)

What they did in the 2011 World Cup

Under pressure to make it four championships in a row, Australia began their tournament brightly enough but were bogged down by the conditions in the subcontinent as well as poor form of some of their more influential players. They made it to the quarter-finals with relative ease despite losing to Pakistan and a no-result against Sri Lanka in third place from Group A, but their tournament ended in their next game against India at Ahmedabad. Ricky Ponting, under the pump for his form, scored a backs-to-the-wall hundred, but the bowlers couldn't contain India's run-chase, thus ending their dream sequence of making five consecutive World Cup finals.

Squad

Michael Clarke (capt), George Bailey (v/c), Pat Cummins, Xavier Doherty, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, Brad Haddin (wk), Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, David Warner, Shane Watson.

Fixtures

February 14 v England, Melbourne

February 21 v Bangladesh, Brisbane

February 28 v New Zealand, Auckland

March 4 v Afghanistan, Perth

March 8 v Sri Lanka, Sydney

March 14 v Scotland, Hobart