Marcus Stoinis opening the bowling for Australia is raising some eyebrows.

Australia’s new-ball bowling stocks in white-ball cricket are the envy of the world. When Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood play in the same team, one of them doesn’t get a new ball as Mitchell Starc has a mortgage on the other.

They’ve left Spencer Johnson out of the World Cup squad although he could make his ODI debut in South Africa. Jason Behrendorff took five wickets against the eventual champions England in the 2019 ODI World Cup and is still a new-ball force in franchise and domestic cricket yet, he has hardly played for Australia since.

Nathan Ellis has also missed the World Cup squad. He isn’t known as a new ball bowler, but he has proven his versatility in any pressure situation.

Sean Abbott is in the squad and was in the team in the first ODI against South Africa in Bloemfontein, but even he didn’t get the new ball with Starc and Cummins absent.

Instead, it was Stoinis brandishing the new Kookaburra, as he has done in three of his last four ODIs and two of his last three T20Is with encouraging success.

In the T20I series, Stoinis took three wickets with the new ball in the powerplay at an economy rate of 6.75. In his last three ODI bowling performances, dating back to Australia’s last series in March, he has bowled 48 balls in the powerplay with the new ball, conceding just 26 runs and dismissing Ishan Kishan and Quinton de Kock.

He was helped in Bloemfontein by a difficult surface, with both de Kock and Temba Bavuma struggling for rhythm.

But Stoinis has turned himself into a new-ball weapon in the powerplay of late. His ability to swing the ball sets him apart from Australia’s specialist right-arm quicks. He hits the bat harder than the speed gun suggests with his extra bounce often causing problems. His control of length has been a feature of his bowling recently, and he can use cutters and scrambled seam deliveries when the swing disappears.

The how is impressive. The why is intriguing.

Australia’s selectors have been trialling various combinations for the ODI World Cup over the past 12 months. One of which involves playing eight batters in an XI, including four allrounders, as they did in the first ODI against India in Mumbai in March. Another involves playing two spinners, which they did in the third game in Chennai in that series and the first ODI against South Africa.

Aside from his ability to swing the new ball and bowl well with just two men out, Stoinis opening the bowling allows Australia’s captain, whoever it is, more flexibility with his bowling resources. The move will allow the specialist quicks to bowl more overs in the middle, and potentially strike through that period, or leave more overs up their sleeve for the death. It also means when two spinners play, one of them might not be risked in the powerplay.

So far it has worked out superbly with the ball. Except there is one glaring problem.

For all those benefits, Stoinis’ ODI batting is a major concern. If he wasn’t bowling so well, likely, he would not be in the team given what has happened with Marnus Labuschagne.

Since March 2019, Stoinis has averaged 16.55 and has gone 29 ODI innings without a half-century. For those wondering if that is just a byproduct of being a finisher like he is in T20 cricket, it is not the case in ODIs. He has batted at No. 5 or higher in 21 of those innings and even batted at No.3 three times.

The only difference between Stoinis and Labuschagne, who was left out of the World Cup squad after averaging just 22.30 in his last 14 ODIs before his supersub heroics in Bloemfontein, is Stoinis has maintained his strike rate above 90 throughout four lean years while Labuschagne struck at under 70 during his recent lean run and just above 83 over his career.

Stoinis opening the bowling to make Australia’s batting almost bulletproof has also not exactly worked in the way it has been drawn up. The intention is to give Australia the depth to chase down anything or set enormous totals. But at the Wankhede Stadium in March, with Stoinis batting at No. 8, Australia were bowled out for 188, batting first, and lost handsomely.

Although on difficult surfaces, the extra batting has paid dividends. In Chennai, with Stoinis at No. 7 and contributing 25, they mustered a winning score of 269. In Bloemfontein, albeit with the help of a concussion substitute, they chased down 223 after slumping to 113 for 7 with Stoinis managing just 17. Likewise in Cairns last year against New Zealand, Australia were 44 for 5, with Stoinis out for 5, and still they chased down 233 thanks to Cameron Green and Alex Carey sharing a 158-run stand for the sixth wicket with the insurance of Glenn Maxwell at No. 8.

The other complicating factor to consider is the fitness of Australia’s allrounders. Stoinis’ bowling becomes even more important given Mitch Marsh’s ankle is still being protected. Marsh is yet to bowl a ball in four matches in South Africa, despite being captain, after a heavy and unexpected workload in the Ashes. Green’s body is always a concern, and his white-ball bowling remains a work in progress. His concussion will now limit his buildup to the World Cup. Maxwell’s leg remains a major concern and will need to be managed carefully.

Stoinis himself has been managed carefully due to his previous side injuries that plagued his 2019 ODI World Cup, among other soft tissue problems. In India, he bowled in the first and third ODI but played as a batter only in the second given the short two-day turnaround. The same plan was rolled out for him in the T20I series against South Africa. There were four days leading into the first ODI which allowed him time to back up.

The new ball experiment is working well for now but runs remain Stoinis’ major priority.