DESPITE leading a touring party which features almost as many fresh faces as a Schoolies Week rave party, Ricky Ponting has put paid to talk of a radical restructure of his one-day team for the 2007 World Cup.
The fact that more than half of the 13-man squad in New Zealand for the three-match Chappell-Hadlee Trophy series boast 20 or less limited-overs internationals experience heightened suspicions the Australian team was undergoing a major facelift.
It is barely 15 months until the next World Cup to be staged in the West Indies, and the Australians are trying to create history by becoming the first team to claim a hat-trick of titles.
But on the eve of today's opening match of the trans-Tasman series in Auckland, Ponting indicated the nucleus of the squad which will defend the crown will be players with a proven international pedigree.
Among those is dumped Test batsman Damien Martyn, who Ponting expects to slot straight back into the limited-overs line-up later in the Australian summer when he has recovered from a fractured finger.
"He's still a pretty important part of our one-day line-up and someone we see getting through to the other side of the World Cup," Ponting said yesterday.
"I don't see (his age) as being a problem with Damien, he's one of the fittest guys in our squad and his one-day form for Western Australia has been outstanding this season.
"Looking back at the last World Cup (in South Africa), one of our strengths was that the players we had on the sidelines were experienced players who had been there and done it before such as (Andy) Bichel and (Andrew) Symonds.
"When we left (Australia for the 2003 tournament) they were probably the guys who weren't going to play much, but they ended up playing leading roles for us at the World Cup. So we want to have experienced guys come the next one as well.
"You don't want to be going into World Cups with inexperienced players because it's obviously the biggest stage, and guys have to be able to handle it when they are confronted by it."
Already severed from the team that defeated India in the 2003 final in Johannesburg are batsmen Matthew Hayden, Darren Lehmann, and Michael Bevan, and bowling all-rounder Bichel.
Their places are likely to be filled in the Caribbean by Simon Katich, Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey and Shane Watson.
But Ponting also confirmed he would like to use the proliferation of one-day tournaments in Australia, South Africa, Bangladesh and India between now and the 2007 World Cup to trial a few up-and-coming players.
In addition to relative one-day international novices Cameron White (three appearances for Australia), Stuart Clark (one), Brad Hodge and Michael Lewis (nil), Ponting nominated at least three young players who could make the grade - NSW opener Phil Jaques, South Australian off-spinner Daniel Cullen and Queensland's left-arm speedster Mitchell Johnson.
"It would be nice to have a look at a lot of them, but I'm not sure if we're going to be experimenting too much," Ponting said.
"Whether or not we actually do will be dependent on how the guys in this squad play over the next 12 months. We see the guys in the current squad as the best players we've got at the moment, and if they keep playing well it's going to be hard for the other young guys to get a chance."
Less than three weeks after making his Test debut in Hobart, Hodge will appear in his maiden one-day international in today's day-night match at Eden Park.
With Glenn McGrath granted compassionate leave , Australia's only recognised world-class bowler is Brett Lee. In contrast, the Black Caps hope to field their strongest available attack which includes stand-in skipper Daniel Vettori, all-rounders Chris Cairns, Scott Styris and Jacob Oram and strike bowler Shane Bond.
Bond, however, is in some doubt after suffered a hamstring strain during a fielding drill late yesterday.
- ANDREW RAMSEY