Every side will be wary of Australia: Waugh

Former Australia captain Steve Waugh believes that the returns of Steve Smith and David Warner to the national team should spell ominous signs for opponents at the ICC World Cup 2019.

Smith and Warner spent a year each out of the Australian side to serve bans for ball-tampering. They have since returned and are due to play their first internationals when the World Cup gets underway in just over a week’s time in England and Wales.

Both batsmen underwent elbow surgeries during their time off, but are primed to pick up from they left. Warner has already shown imperious form in the 2019 Indian Premier League, where he topped the season’s run charts with 692 runs in 12 innings, with one hundred and eight fifties.

Smith also showed peak form during the three warm-up games against a New Zealand XI in Brisbane, returning scores of 89* and 91*. “Every side will be wary of Australia,” Waugh told the ICC. “They know the potential of the Australian side. There’s been turmoil in Australian cricket over the last 12 months, but that has been put aside now. We’ve got our best players available to be picked in Smith and Warner.”