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AUSTRALIA PROFILES

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Ricky Ponting (c)

Born: 19.12.1974
ODIs: 272
Role: Batsman
Bat: Right-hand
Average: 42.90
Strike-Rate: 80.08
Bowl: Right-arm medium
Average: 34.66
Economy: 4.16

Ponting's brilliance in Tests that has brought about all of those Bradman comparisons has been replicated in ODIs over the last year. A couple of hundreds - including an epic 164 off 105 balls in that match against South Africa - and a string of fifties have made him without question the world's best in both forms of the game. Whether he bats at three or opens with Gilchrist, Ponting looks imperious every time he comes to the crease.

Mike Hussey

Born: 27.05.1975
ODIs: 64
Role: Batsman
Bat: Left-hand
Average: 60.34
Strike-Rate: 91.28
Bowl: Right-arm medium
Average: 83.50
Economy: 5.21

It is one of the great mysteries of the game that Mr Cricket took so long to cement a place in the Australian side. Often named as the successor to Michael Bevan as Australia's 'finisher', Hussey's game is so much more than that. His 60-plus average is slightly inflated given that he usually comes in at five, but a strike rate in the 90s and no obvious weaknesses in technique mean that he could well be the star of the tournament.

Adam Gilchrist

Born: 14.11.71
ODIs: 260
Role: Keeper-batsman
Bat: Left-hand
Average: 35.77
Strike-Rate: 96.18
Bowl: n/a
Average: n/a
Economy: n/a

Only Sangakkara and Dhoni come close to emulating Gilchrist as a keeper-batsman. The way he can take a game from the opposition was brutally shown in the third Ashes Test, where he smashed a century off just 57 balls. His importance is illustrated by his inclusion despite initially indicating he would be unavailable for the group stage due to the birth of his third child.

Matthew Hayden

Born: 29.10.1971
ODIs: 137
Role: Opening batsman
Bat: Left-hand
Average: 42.26
Strike-Rate: 77.08
Bowl: Right-arm medium
Average: n/a
Economy: 18.00

After being dropped for the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy, Hayden is enjoying the latest of swansongs after many thought he had played his last one-dayer. His brutish, bullying style has always appeared more suited to ODIs, and the World Cup may be his last international appearance of note. The England team will testify what an Aussie looking to go out with a bang can do.

Michael Clarke

Born: 02.04.1981
ODIs: 104
Role: Batsman
Bat: Right-hand
Average: 44.18
Strike-Rate: 82.72
Bowl: Left-arm slow
Average: 36.73
Economy: 5.18

Hailed as the great blonde hope of Australian cricket and the next Steve Waugh after making a dazzling 151 on Test debut in 2004, Clarke's brief fall was almost as spectacular as his rise. Dropped from the Test side after a poor run of form, Clarke kept his place in Australia's ODI line-up, and proved that it is possible to score runs quickly without smashing everything out of the ground.

Andrew Symonds

Born: 09.06.1975
ODIs: 162
Role: All-rounder
Bat: Right-hand
Average: 38.61
Strike-Rate: 92.18
Bowl: Rt med/offspin
Average: 37.54
Economy: 4.98

Symonds looked destined to be forever pigeon-holed as a one-day specialist before grabbing his Ashes chance. Brutal with the bat, lightning in the field and with a useful talent for switching between off-breaks and medium-pacers, Symonds is perhaps the complete ODI performer. Once more famous for his off-field activities, Symonds has now matured into a key part of the Aussie set-up.

Brad Hodge

Born: 29.12.1974
ODIs: 15
Role: Batsman
Bat: Right-hand
Average: 39.69
Strike-Rate: 93.98
Bowl: Rt-arm offspin
Average: 33.00
Economy: 3.66

One of the unluckiest batsmen in world cricket, Hodge is the best of a crop of Australian players kept away from the international arena by sheer class of competition. An average of plus 60 in his first Test series wasn't enough to keep his place after Damien Martyn returned, and was in contention for the place taken by Michael Clarke on the India tour of 2005.

Brad Haddin

Born: 23.10.1977
ODIs: 21
Role: Wicketkeeper
Bat: Right-hand
Average: 25.94
Strike-Rate: 80.93
Bowl: n/a
Average: n/a
Economy: n/a

It seems that Haddin has been waiting on the sidelines for years for Adam Gilchrist to retire. A handy reserve to have with both bat and gloves, Haddin can count himself extremely unlucky to be stuck behind perhaps the greatest wicketkeeper-batsman of them all. Unluckier still after he was initially to play in the group stage, before Gilchrist declared himself available.

Brad Hogg

Born: 06.02.1971
ODIs: 98
Role: All-rounder
Bat: Left-hand
Average: 21.21
Strike-Rate: 81.20
Bowl: Left-arm wrist
Average: 28.14
Economy: 4.55

Hogg is the closest thing Australia have to a specialist spinner, and with doubts about the new Carribbean pitches, it could be a heavy burden. Hogg holds the dubious record of having the longest gap between Tests for an Australian (78 matches), and has by no means been a regular in the one-day side, but just managed to hold off the challenge of Cameron White for the World Cup squad.

Nathan Bracken

Born: 12.09.1977
ODIs: 60
Role: Bowler
Bat: Right-hand
Average: 16.00
Strike-Rate: 85.20
Bowl: Left-arm fast-med
Average: 22.20
Economy: 4.43

Yet another player to suffer through sheer weight and class of competition, Nathan Bracken has been on the fringes of the Australian squad for six years. A left arm seamer who can move the ball both ways, if nothing else Bracken offers useful variation to the Australian attack, but still hasn't tied up his spot over the quicker fellow southpaw Mitchell Johnson.

Shaun Tait

Born: 22.02.1983
ODIs: 7
Role: Bowler
Bat: Right-hand
Average: 11.00
Strike-Rate: 110.00
Bowl: Rt-arm fast
Average: 35.30
Economy: 5.51

The surprise inclusion in the Australia squad, Tait offers genuine pace, but his economy is erratic at best. When he was picked to face England in the CB series, one commentator joked 'That's 70 runs in the bag then', and he was only 2 out, with Tait taking 2-68. However, Tait bounced back in style in the very next game against New Zealand, conceding just 26 from his 10 overs.

Stuart Clark

Born: 28.09.1975
ODIs: 24
Role: Bowler
Bat: Right-hand
Average: 19.66
Strike-Rate: 86.76
Bowl: Rt-arm fast-med
Average: 31.82
Economy: 5.48

At the start of the Ashes series, Clark was regarded as a poor man's Glenn McGrath. How wrong we all were. Clark proved to be the bowler of the series, outshining the rest with 26 wickets at 17. However, the Australia selectors saw fit to omit him from the original squad, but Brett Lee's ankle injury gave them chance to right that wrong, despite his slightly high ODI economy rate.

Shane Watson

Born: 17.06.1981
ODIs: 60
Role: All-rounder
Bat: Right-hand
Average: 32.14
Strike-Rate: 75.63
Bowl: Rt-arm fast-med
Average: 33.25
Economy: 4.87

Next to Michael Vaughan, Watson is possibly the most injury-prone cricketer in the world. Has shown great potential for both Tasmania and Hampshire with bat and ball, but has never managed to transfer that domestic form to international cricket. Briefly opened the batting in the Champions Trophy, but Watson will probably only get a look in if Andrew Symonds' bicep doesn't recover.

Glenn McGrath

Born: 09.02.1970
ODIs: 242
Role: Bowler
Bat: Right-hand
Average: 3.83
Strike-Rate: 48.72
Bowl: Rt-arm fast-med
Average: 22.55
Economy: 3.87

The World Cup will be McGrath's last hurrah in a glorious career. His method of landing the ball on the same spot time and again is perfectly suited to the one-day game, as is borne out by his astonishing economy rate of 3.83 - a figure that wouldn't be calamitous in Tests these days. He is the perfect yin to Brett Lee's furious but unpredictable yang, and he will be sorely missed.

Mitchell Johnson

Born: 02.11.1981
ODIs: 18
Role: Bowler
Bat: Left-hand
Average: 7.25
Strike-Rate: 76.31
Bowl: Left-arm fast
Average: 27.88
Economy: 5.33

Hailed by many in Australian cricket as the most exciting fast bowling prospect since Brett Lee, Johnson has a bright future, but that future might not start just yet. Will battle it out with Nathan Bracken for a spot in the starting XI, but a tendancy to leak runs will probably mean Johnson has to be patient initially, but his ability to take wickets at crucial times could give him a chance later on.