No Rhino, no Lyno

After Australia raised the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Sydney on Saturday night the chairman of selectors, Rod Marsh, approached Ryan Harris for a chat.

"Rhino," Marsh said.

"Don't worry mate, I know," Harris replied.

The message Marsh was going to deliver was that Harris was not in Australia's World Cup squad. It was in one sense no surprise, for Harris has not played a one-day international for nearly three years. In another sense it was an opportunity missed, for Mitchell Johnson and Harris must be the pair of bowlers Australia's World Cup opponents would least like to face.

You can understand the decision made by Marsh and his panel. Harris is arguably Australia's most important bowler for the upcoming Ashes tour of England, where he was their Player of the Series in the 2013 campaign. He is 35 years old, prone to injury, and will always carry with him an ongoing knee issue that required surgery last year.

Marsh said that Harris had "had his time" in ODI cricket. His last match for Australia in the format came against Sri Lanka in February 2012, so long ago that he shared bowling duties with Brett Lee. But five years after his last Test, Chris Rogers was called up at 35 for Australia's 2013 Ashes tour. The selectors viewed the Ashes as the Test pinnacle and saw Rogers as a man who could help them; the World Cup is the ODI peak and Harris could have done the same.

"We'd really like to see Ryan go to England and bowl his heart out again in Test cricket and keep those Ashes," Marsh said. "He's that important to the team in Test match cricket. I know there's nothing bigger than a World Cup ... He would have loved to have been in the side but I think he also realises that he would have struggled."

It will be interesting now to see how Harris is managed over the coming months. Had he been in the World Cup squad he would have played at most nine days of ODI cricket from mid-February to the end of March. The intensity of a World Cup notwithstanding, the benefits of leaving him out will be diminished if he returns to Sheffield Shield cricket with Queensland. But he can't be completely cotton-woolled, and if he plays anywhere, why not for Australia?

Harris was fit enough to play the Sydney Test but has not been picked in the World Cup squad, while Michael Clarke was not fit enough to play at the SCG but has been chosen to lead Australia in the World Cup. It is a strange contrast, for Clarke must surely be as important to Australia's Ashes plans as Harris, and in some ways appears even more physically fragile.

As the incumbent ODI captain it would have a big call to leave him out of a home World Cup, but given his ongoing hamstring and back injuries it will be no surprise if he breaks down again during the tournament. Then the race to get him fit for the Ashes will begin, and the whole saga will play out one more time ahead of another big event.

By handing Clarke a deadline to prove his fitness by Australia's second match against Bangladesh, the selectors have given him a reasonably short rein. He can miss only the tournament opener against England before losing his place. But the uncertainty over his recovery time-frame will become a distraction for the Australians in the lead-up to the World Cup.

Should Clarke fail to prove his fitness, Cameron White would be the logical replacement. Fourth on the Matador Cup run tally this summer with two hundreds and two fifties from seven games, White has the experience and poise to slot seamlessly into Australia's campaign if called upon. After all, this is a man who has even captained Australia in ODI cricket in the past.

Remarkably, White has not played an ODI since April 2011, having been part of the World Cup squad that competed in India and Sri Lanka that year. Only five members of Australia's 2011 World Cup squad have made it into the group for this year's tournament: Clarke, Johnson, Steven Smith, Brad Haddin and Shane Watson.

Australia's spinner in 2011 was Jason Krejza, called up with only one previous ODI to his name due to injuries to Nathan Hauritz and Xavier Doherty. Now, Doherty gets his opportunity to play in a World Cup, having been preferred to Nathan Lyon for the specialist spinner's position.

It was a curious decision, for Lyon was trialled during the one-day games in Zimbabwe and the UAE this year and across six matches took 10 wickets at 25.30 at an economy rate of 4.43. In the past year, Doherty has also played six ODIs for only half of Lyon's wicket tally - five at 45.20 and an economy rate of 4.26.

Lyon was also the leading wicket taker from either side during the Australia-India Test series and is brimming with confidence. In 2013, Marsh was part of a selection panel that picked Doherty for Australia's Test tour of India because he had impressed them in ODIs; now Marsh seems unwilling to apply the reverse criteria in Lyon's favour.

Perhaps the selectors wanted options to spin the ball both ways, giving Doherty the edge with offspinning allrounder Glenn Maxwell a certain selection. There is every chance that Maxwell will be Australia's primary spinner in many of their World Cup matches, with Doherty only coming into contention if conditions suit.

Most of this World Cup squad picked itself, but it is hard to believe Australia's chances would not be improved by the presence of Lyon and Harris in the group.