Weather threatens Australia's rhythm

Australia's meticulously planned World Cup campaign may be about to experience a first hiccup, due to the dire weather forecast for Brisbane over the coming week.

A washout against Bangladesh at the Gabba on Saturday would not derail the Australians from advancing towards home quarter and semi-final appearances, but a preponderance of rain in Queensland would drain the hosts of the momentum gathered over the past few weeks, so evident in the opening hiding dealt out to England.

In a concession to the likely weather over the next three days, the coach Darren Lehmann oversaw a lengthier than usual training session at Allan Border Field on Wednesday. Even as they dodged several chunky rain showers, the bowlers and allrounders were all given plenty of time to loosen up, while lively practice wickets kept the batsmen very much on their toes throughout. Michael Clarke went through a one-on-one fielding session with Mike Young before batting at length in the nets.

"I had a look before training, it didn't look ideal for the next couple days but I think Saturday it's going to hopefully clear up a little bit and all we need is 20 overs each," Glenn Maxwell said, somewhat optimistically. "Hopefully we can get out for that amount of time. With the weather forecast the smart thing to do is to have a full session today and have our individual sessions over the next two days. It's a bit of a change-up but it's the right thing to do with the weather predicted.

Wet weather can play havoc with a team's equilibrium. Just ask any of the Australians who toured England for a sodden ODI tour in 2012 that ended winless following a series of frustrated indoor net sessions and damp, seaming pitches for matches against the hosts. Lehmann would not want his team to be short of rhythm ahead of the pivotal meeting with New Zealand in Auckland that follows Bangladesh, and nor would Clarke want to enter that fixture with no quality time in the middle behind him.

"He's hitting the ball beautifully, he's even bowling a bit in the nets and it all looks like he's moving really well so I think he'll be ready to go," Maxwell said of Clarke. "It's been talked about quite a bit that he's going to be ready for this game, so I don't think there's any doubts about that. We knew the schedule Michael was going to be going through, he's never put his schedule ahead of ours and never got in the way of anyone at training who was preparing for a game when he knew he wasn't playing.

"So it hasn't been a distraction for us, it's been great to see how hard he is working and it's been nice to have him back around to talk about game tactics or whatever. He's very good captain, there's no doubt about that. I've been lucky enough to play under him in two of the three formats now and he's a very good captain."

Australia's time in Brisbane had been largely restive up to this point, the squad staying together on days off despite the obvious lure of time spent at home. Maxwell said this decision had been made consciously to ensure the team did not lose a sense of common purpose and focus due to home comforts, while touring teams bonded more thoroughly on the far side of the world.

"The way we've done this tournament is try to spend as much time together as possible," Maxwell said. "The advantage for teams away from their home countries is they're spending that whole time together. Sometimes when you have these tournaments in your own backyard it's very tempting to go home, stay away from the team and see your family, but I think we've tried to stay together as long as possible and really keep that team environment going throughout the whole way through."

Seldom if ever has an Australian team reached Brisbane without facing obligatory questions about whether they would load up on pace bowling for the Gabba, and the striking rhythm of the reserve fast man Pat Cummins in the nets certainly would have given Lehmann and the selector on duty Trevor Hohns some food for thought.

While it is widely expected that George Bailey will make way for Clarke, room for Cummins would have to be found by dropping an allrounder, perhaps Shane Watson. Either way, there seems little chance of Bangladesh facing up to anything but a very focused Australia, provided the weather is kind.

"Every game's tough in the World Cup, it's a long tournament and you've got to be 100% the whole way through," Maxwell said. "You saw Scotland got pretty close to New Zealand the other day, they were only three wickets off, and obviously Ireland beating the West Indies. Everyone can beat everyone in these games, so you've got to be 100% on and hopefully the sun stays out for a couple more days and we can get a full game."

"I just faced Patty Cummins with a brand new ball in there and I don't wish that on anyone. So if it is like that it would be a bit of a temptation to let four quicks rip, but then again I'm not a selector. I wouldn't mind being one, I'd play a lot more games!"