NAIROBI, Aug 28 AAP - The much-maligned rotation system, which Steve Waugh defended staunchly until his last days in the Australian one-day cricket team, is now a thing of the past.

Allan Border, a national selector and acting coach for the triangular series against Pakistan and Kenya starting here tomorrow, admitted the system had caused disruptions last summer when the Australians failed to qualify for the tri-series finals.

When asked about the rotation of players in and out of the side for the purpose of giving game-time to as many players as possible, Border said: "Last year, resting blokes and rotation systems and all that was (a really disruptive period)."

He said it was feeling that Australia should field the best possible team each time it played.

"The ideal scenario for me as a selector is the 14 guys we've picked here - with (the injured) Darren Lehmann coming - will be together going into the World Cup - that's the ideal scenario because it means everyone's playing well.

"I haven't talked to Ricky (Ponting) or the senior players at length about how they want to attack this tournament - whether we give everyone a game - but my gut feeling is not to do that.

"We should try to get our best side on the field as much as possible.

"I'm very reluctant to continue with that chopping and changing we've been doing, I'd rather get the right combination together."

Having said that, Border pointed out the necessity of managing players' welfare to avoid burnout.

"We want to keep our gun players as close to 100 per cent as possible - guys like Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne in particular ... but if blokes get a bit jaded we can give them some time off."

He suggested time off would entail missing State games rather than skipping national duty.

Border, who is covering for the injured John Buchanan as coach here, said he would try to keep things simple in his first stint in charge of the national side - and he wouldn't bring too much of his own straight-forward style to bear on players who had become used to Buchanan's intricate planning.

"I'd be reluctant to do too much of my own sort of thing. There's certain processes that John's been working on, styles of play and the rest of it.

"As far as training goes, because it's a pretty condensed tour I won't do many of the things he does - just more the basic training but I don't think it's right to come in and try to do things my way when John's going to take over again."

Border said this tournament was important as Australia built towards the World Cup starting in just over five months.

"All the games from now on in are important. You want to get your processes in place so that when you hit the ground in South Africa all the players know their roles and you've got your game plan sorted out."

An intricate part of the game-plan is the all-rounder, at the moment a job assigned to Shane Watson, whom he said was under some pressure to confirm he had the right stuff for the international stage.

"That's one (position) we have to monitor closely," said Border, who is also a selector.

"He's got the job at the moment - the ball's in his court.

"There's some decent players breathing down his neck but we haven't set him any time frame (to deliver the goods).

"That all-rounder's spot - no-one's really nailed it down over the past couple of years, so fingers-crossed he really grabs the role and does well."

In other news here, Pakistan batsman Yousef Youhana has been kicked out of the tournament for unspecified disciplinary reasons.

© 2002 AAP

This report does not necessarily represent the views of the Australian Cricket Board.