The announcement of the Australian 30 man squad for the 2003 World Cup is cause for the raising of an eyebrow.

The omission of Stuart MacGill is puzzling and he would have every right to feel aggrieved by it. He is a world-class leg spinner. In his three One-Day Internationals to date, he has taken six wickets at an average of 17.50 and an economy rate of 3.50.

To stay that he is behind Victorian rookie Cameron White is suggesting a lot. Brad Hogg's number make his selection intriguing. He has played seven One-Day Internationals and taken three wickets at an average of 72.66 and economy rate of 4.43. Would the selectors prefer to play an average off spinner along side a leg spinner for the sake of variety as opposed to two quality leg spinners?

Why not select White in the Australia A squad instead of Hogg?

You would have thought that a place for Steve Waugh could be found in the top 30 one-day cricketers in Australia. His experience of playing 325 limited overs games for Australia would be invaluable. He should have been picked ahead of Justin Langer.

Like Mark Taylor before him, Langer has never been favoured in the shorter form of the game. Not one of his eight limited overs game took place in Australia. He has only made the team when part of the touring squad.

With dashers such as Mike Hussey, Greg Blewett, Andrew Symonds and Jimmy Maher also in the squad, what was the point of naming Langer when he is next to no chance of being in South Africa?

Such is the depth of Australian cricket that quality players couldn't crack the top 30. Calibre cricketers such as Martin Love, Michael Kapsrowicz and Jamie Cox.

In the last World Cup, Australia had great success with Tom Moody in the all-rounder's position. The pressure will be on Shane Watson, Ian Harvey and Andrew Symonds to perform. Harvey and Symonds both failed last season in the VB Series and were one of the primary reasons for Australia's failure to qualify for the last year finals series.

From Australia's 1999 World Cup-winning squad, Brendon Julian, Tom Moody, Paul Reiffel and Mark Waugh have retired. Steve Waugh and Damien Fleming were omitted while Shane Lee and Adam Dale are injured.

Dale is the forgotten man of Australian cricket and is just making his first steps back after undergoing major surgery to his right shoulder. Currently, playing for the Queensland Second XI, Dale has his job cut out for him trying to make the Bulls team let alone the Australian one.

© David Wiseman

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