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World Cup thrown into a spin with tweakers

3 minute read

Australia appear unlikely to follow South Africa's lead and open with spin in the World Cup, but Adam Zampa could still bowl within the powerplay.

ADAM ZAMPA of Australia dives for the ball during the One Day International series between India and Australia at Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground in Nagpur, India.
ADAM ZAMPA of Australia dives for the ball during the One Day International series between India and Australia at Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground in Nagpur, India. Picture: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

Australia won't rule out bringing Adam Zampa on early in World Cup matches as they consider the increased role of spin at the tournament.

The higher prevalence of the tweaker was highlighted in Thursday's opening game when South African legspinner Imran Tahir bowled the first over, knocking over Jonny Bairstow in the process.

That's in stark contrast to just four years ago when Australia won the last World Cup without a specialist spinner in their XI, only using Glenn Maxwell as a batting allrounder.

And while it appears unlikely the Aussies would follow suit starting with Zampa given the threat of Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc with the new ball, captain Aaron Finch would consider using him in the opening 10-over powerplay.

"He bowled in the sixth over against England in the game at Southampton (in the warm-up game)," Finch said.

"If there's two lefties in we've got Maxwell and some great new-ball bowlers.

"But Zamps, he's done it in the Big Bash quite a bit and T20s, he hasn't done it for Australia as much but he did a great job the other day.

"He bowls stump to stump which is a huge advantage for a legspinner."

Zampa has only just returned to form to confirm his status as the team's first-choice spinner, after Australian turners took just seven wickets - or one in every 125 balls they bowled - in a barren 2018.

Spin will also firmly be on Australia's batsmen's minds.

The team historically struggles against spinners in all formats of the game, and their first-up opponents in Afghanistan have three of the sport's best.

"They've got world-class spinners - Nabi, Rashid Khan and Mujeeb (Ur Raman) as well," Finch said.

"They're probably three of the most well-known spinners around the world over the last couple of years in the shorter formats."

But Finch is at least confident some inside knowledge will help him in Bristol on Saturday.

"I played for a couple of years with Nabi at the (Melbourne) Renegades and one season with Mujeeb at Kings XI (in the Indian Premier League)," he said.

"You get to train a lot with these guys and they teach you everything they can."

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