The omitted duo of Kane Richardson and Hazelwood named as World Cup standbys

Melbourne [Australia], Apr 15 (ANI): Australia's national selection panel chairman Trevor Hohns on Monday said that both fast-bowlers Josh Hazelwood and Kane Richardson will be the team's "standby bowlers" after they were not named in the final squad of fifteen for the World Cup.
"Josh was certainly an interesting one for us – of course his complete lack of match play over a period of time now obviously weighed against him …  he's yet to prove he's fully fit," cricket.com.au quoted Hohns as saying.
"However in saying that, he still remains an option for us for the World Cup if a replacement were to be required for one of our other fast bowlers. He along with of course Kane Richardson are the standby fast bowlers and we'd have to make a choice at that stage if somebody was required," he added.
Hazelwood's omission from the World Cup squad was a major headline. The bowler is one of the handful Aussie quick bowlers who are currently on their way back from injury, with Mitchell Starc and Jhye Richardson both named in the Aussie squad despite suffering pec and shoulder injuries respectively.
Hohns was also seen praising the Aussie bowler, Jhye Richardson's death bowling skills and he believes that he will be fit enough to take part in the upcoming World Cup.
"Whether he's ahead of Josh in his recovery, that's a little bit uncertain, but indicators are Jhye will be able to take his place in the World Cup squad, we'll get a better idea of that in the coming weeks," Hohns said.
"Jhye, as we know, has really performed quite well for us in the opportunities he's been given to date," he added.
Australia's 15-member squad for the World Cup: Aaron Finch (c), Usman Khawaja, David Warner, Steve Smith, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey (vc), Pat Cummins (vc), Mitchell Starc, Jhye Richardson, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Lyon, Adam Zampa.
The team takes on England and Sri Lanka in the warm-up matches before the World Cup.
Australia takes on Afghanistan in their opening match of the World Cup on June 1. (ANI)