Aussie assault at mercy of Cyclone Marcia

Squad indecision for Bangladesh clash with Clarke being the only certainty .

BRISBANE: Australia could unleash pace quartet Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins on Bangladesh in Brisbane on Saturday, but wicketkeeper Brad Haddin admits they are at the mercy of Tropical Cyclone Marcia.

The Gabba ground is bracing itself for the cyclone to make its forecast way down the Queensland coast, with the anticipated ensuing deluge of rain already putting the match in peril.

In a worrying build-up, the Australian team has been forced to hold training sessions indoors while the storm has left the four-time world champions scratching their heads over the potential make-up of their team.

“All the weather has done has delayed the naming of the team,” said Haddin on Thursday. “We are not sure what we are going to get when we pull the covers up.”

The wild weather has also led to speculation that Cummins will join Starc, Hazlewood and Johnson, who all played in the opening 111-run win over England at Melbourne last weekend, in the starting side against Bangladesh.

“Yeah, there is a possibility,” said Haddin. “If there wasn’t any weather around that probably would have been slim. But it’s hard to give you a team or what we are thinking because we are so unsure on what is going to happen.”

The only certainty, admitted Haddin, is that skipper Michael Clarke will play in the game having missed the England match after failing to shake-off the lingering after-effects of his long-term hamstring problems. “This was the plan for Clarke all along, for him to be right for this game,” said Haddin.

Stand-in skipper George Bailey is expected to make way for Clarke despite calls for all-rounder Shane Watson to be dropped after his first ball duck in the win over England.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 20^th, 2015.

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