Kane Richards feels buoyant after inclusion in Australia\'s World Cup squad
Dubai: Australian pacer Kane Richardson expressed happiness on being included in Australia's team for the upcoming World Cup, a tournament Australia's Coach Justin Langer calls "the Olympics of Cricket".
The pacer was named as the replacement for the injured Jhye Richardson in the 15-member squad on Wednesday.
"I remember four years ago missing out on at that 2015 team. I was 24 then and I thought at the next one I'll be 28, so that's probably my shot," International Cricket Council (ICC) quoted Kane Richardson as saying on Thursday.
"I still wasn't thinking about it a month ago. But to get the call yesterday that struck me the most. I remember watching the World Cup in England in 1999, that was the one I went to a video store and rented the VHS and watched that back! It kind of hit me then that these things don't come around. It's the Olympics of cricket, is what JL (Justin Langer) has been calling it," he added.
Richardson was a part of the team's squad in the recently concluded limited-overs series against Pakistan in the UAE. With this selection for the World Cup, he will join the likes of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Coulter-Nile, and Jason Behrendorff to bolster the fast-bowling department.
The pacer has taken 29 wickets in 20 ODIs and he expects to play a crucial role in the final overs as he thinks bowling in the death overs is his strength.
"In the UAE, I think that is what JL was happy with, those two games I played and bowled right at the end in crunch time," Richardson said.
"I think that's my strength, but I want to be a well-rounded bowler who can bowl at any stage of the innings. If I'm to play a role at the World Cup I've got to be able to do that as well," he added.
Australia's updated 15-member team for the World Cup: 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.
The team will take on England and Sri Lanka in two warm-up matches before the World Cup on May 25 and 27, respectively.
Australia takes on Afghanistan in their first match of the World Cup on June 1 at Bristol.
