Two new balls, big bats, flat pitches and small grounds could lead to very big scores at the World Cup
'Unbelievable': Waugh backs ODI record
It was once thought impossible but former Australia batsman Mark Waugh can envisage a team posting a total of 500 in the upcoming World Cup.
No team has reached the stratospheric landmark of 500, with England's 6-481 against Australia last year the closest to date.
But with the prospect of flat pitches at small UK venues, Waugh can see one of the tournament heavyweights break new ground and post an unthinkable total of half a thousand.
"It sounds unbelievable, you just don't think you could get 500 but I think you could, yeah," Waugh told cricket.com.au at today's Fox Cricket World Cup launch at the SCG.
"I think one of the better teams against one of the weaker teams it might happen. The bowlers are going to cop some pasting I think."
World No.1 and tournament favourites England appear the likeliest team to register 500 given they got so close to the magic mark against the Australians at Trent Bridge last June and have the deepest and most dangerous one-day batting line-up on the planet.
England fast bowler Mark Wood said last week scoring 500 is a "realistic target" for his side, which features heavy-hitters Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Eoin Morgan, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali and the class of Test skipper Joe Root.
"That is a realistic target for our one-day team," Wood told BBC Sport when asked about posting 500 in a 50-over match.
"It's almost normal to get 350; 400 is easily gettable. We truly believe that we can chase down high scores, no matter what the opposition get."
England tallied scores of 3-373, 4-359, 7-341 and 9-351 in their recent 4-0 series win over Pakistan on home soil to underline the strength of their imperious batting unit.
But despite the monster totals England have been posting ever since their shock group stage exit in the 2015 World Cup, Australia coach Justin Langer says his charges will play their own brand of cricket and not look to emulate their rivals.
"When everyone says we’ve got to start playing like England or start playing like New Zealand or start playing like India, no, we’ll keep playing like Australia because we’ve won four of the past five World Cups and that’s something to be proud of," Langer said in England this week.
"When it comes to playing India and England it’s just like match play. We’re just going to have to compete harder and be ready for them so, in terms of scores, a lot will have to do with the grounds we play on, the conditions, whether we’re chasing or setting, all those sorts of things.
"We showed in India and Dubai that, if we stick to it, we’ll score big enough scores to win games of cricket."
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Australia's squad: Aaron Finch (c), Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey (wk), Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa
May 22: (warm-up) Australia v West Indies, Southampton
May 25: (warm-up) England v Australia, Southampton
May 27: (warm-up) Australia v Sri Lanka, Southampton
June 1: Afghanistan v Australia, Bristol (D/N)
June 6: Australia v West Indies, Trent Bridge
June 9: India v Australia, The Oval
June 12: Australia v Pakistan, Taunton
June 15: Sri Lanka v Australia, The Oval
June 20: Australia v Bangladesh, Trent Bridge
June 25: England v Australia, Lord's
June 29: New Zealand v Australia, Lord's (D/N)
July 6: Australia v South Africa, Old Trafford (D/N)
July 9: Semi-Final 1, Old Trafford
July 11: Semi-Final 2, Edgbaston
July 14: Final, Lord's
For a full list of all World Cup fixtures, click HERE