Coach applauds 'role model' Richardson

Australia coach Justin Langer has revealed he thought fast bowler Kane Richardson would never play for his country again after a disastrous T20 match in England 12 months ago.

But the right-armer has reversed his coach's belief and is set to play a part in Australia's World Cup campaign after Langer called it "unrealistic" for his side to go through the tournament unchanged.

Richardson was not named in Australia's initial 15-player World Cup squad, but a shoulder injury to Jhye Richardson saw the right-armer called up on the eve of the team's departure to Europe.

Langer revealed he thought Richardson had played his last game for Australia 12 months ago when the 28-year-old conceded 59 runs off four wicketless overs in the one-off T20I against England in Birmingham.

But the coach said the way Richardson has turned around his game and attitude has made him a "great role model" for his teammates.

"I have been very proud of the progress of the players and I’m thinking about someone like Kane Richardson, who I sat with at (Edgbaston) after the T20 game last year (against England) and I never thought he’d play cricket for Australia again," Langer said. 

"I didn’t think he had the bottle and we talked about it but how he has come on and you see he is having a red-hot dip here, everything he does, whether it’s at training, he’s talked about it to the group, he doesn’t want to play scared cricket, he wants to be an Australian cricketer.

"He is a really talented athlete. He has great skills. He is a beautiful athlete. He can field well, catch well, but when you are just holding back a little bit – maybe I won't go for that because I don't want to mess it up – now he is having a dip and a red-hot crack at it.

"You get to this level, there are so many distractions, it is so hard. If you are not going 100 per cent, too hard. He is going 100 per cent now and I have great respect for him for that."

Richardson is unlikely to play in tomorrow night's clash with Afghanistan in Bristol, but a gruelling stretch of games could see him feature early in the tournament as Langer cycles through his bowling options.

Following their World Cup opener against Afghanistan in Bristol on Saturday (10.30pm AEST), Australia play the West Indies (June 6), India (June 9), Pakistan (June 12) and Sri Lanka (June 15) in the space of nine days.

That hectic stretch will likely see rotation in the Australian side but Langer said the playing XI will be specifically curated to suit their opponent.

"There's one little section where I think we play four games in nine days we might have to look at managing our bowlers," Langer said in Bristol on Friday.

"In a perfect world you keep the team together for the whole time. It's probably unrealistic to think that will happen.

"We are very clear on our match-ups for different teams.

"There are obviously some great data around that we have researched thoroughly all our oppositions."

Langer is set to unleash his first-choice fast bowling attack for the clash against Afghanistan, a trio that could include Mitch Starc, Pat Cummins and Nathan Coulter-Nile, three quicks all capable of exceeding speeds of 145kph.

But Langer doesn't expect his tearaway fast bowlers to blast through Afghanistan's top order given the traditional slower pitches in the UK.

Instead, he has implored them to be disciplined with their lines to the opposing batsmen throughout the tournament.

"If we were playing the World Cup in Australia, or South Africa even, we might suggest that (blasting out their opponents) but not on these wickets. We are realistic," Langer said.

"We have got guys with some good air speed – Starc, Cummins, Coulter-Nile – they have got a bit of height about them. They might get some bounce but our tactic will be the same.

"We know that the lines in England are very important. Also, the big squares, the big wicket squares, so you have got to be very good with your lines.

"Regardless of who you are playing, there will be pretty similar game plans."

For a full list of all World Cup fixtures, click HERE