George Bailey stresses South Africa, Zimbabwe tours for 2027 World Cup

George Bailey, Chair of Selectors for Australia, has emphasised the significance of the upcoming tours to South Africa and Zimbabwe as vital preparation for the 2027 Men’s ODI World Cup.

With the tournament scheduled to take place from October 4 to November 21, 2027, co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia, Bailey noted that Australia has limited opportunities over the next 12 to 14 months to fine-tune their squad and identify players suited to those conditions.

Highlighting the impact of recent retirements from the 50-over format, Bailey acknowledged the departures of Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis but expressed confidence in the current squad’s ability to fill the roles those experienced players previously held. “I still think we have that style of player within that squad. It’s not Steve Smith, the retirements of Steve, Glenn and even Marcus Stoinis- they were three very good role-players within that team,” he said.

Australia is set to play three One Day Internationals against Zimbabwe beginning September 15, followed by a three-match series against South Africa starting September 24.

Bailey also praised the versatility of Australia’s ODI middle order, stating that players must be able to adapt to different match situations rather than perform fixed roles. He explained that batters may be required either to rebuild after early wickets or accelerate the scoring towards the end of an innings, making adaptability essential.

“One of the great advantages, I think, of the way this one-day group has been evolving over the last period of time is that ability for players to morph. The hard thing through [the] middle order in one-day cricket is that there’s not really a specific role. You can be in at two or three for not many, or you can be in at two or three for plenty, and you’re trying to ice the cake or ice the chase at the back end,” Bailey said.

“So that ability to be flexible or adapt your game to what’s playing out in front of you is really important. I think we’ve got a number of players that have done that and will continue to emerge to do that. And then clearly as we get closer to a World Cup, you start to really refine that and bed that down,” he added.

The Australia ODI squad for these tours includes Mitchell Marsh, Pat Cummins (for the South Africa tour only), Xavier Bartlett, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Joel Davies, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Oliver Peake, Matthew Renshaw, Billy Stanlake, Mitchell Starc (South Africa only) and Adam Zampa.