Hussey, Symonds may bat up the order

Bridgetown (Barbados): World Cup favourites Australia may elevate Michael Hussey and Andrew Symonds higher in the batting order in the Super Eights game against Ireland on Friday, captain Ricky Ponting said.

Symonds has not started in several games since the Australians arrived in the Caribbean a month ago, scoring 59 in three innings. Hussey's time has been disastrous, with only 35 runs scored in six innings. The failures included knocks against three of the eliminated teams, Zimbabwe, Netherlands and Scotland.

Ponting told a news conference he had a long talk with Hussey in the nets on Thursday to find out how the 31-year-old was feeling and whether he needed some time in the middle against Ireland, which is unlikely to progress out of the Super Eights having lost all their matches so far.

Asked if the batting order could change, he said, "It may happen tomorrow. Nothing's going to be set in stone but I have spoken long and hard to the batting group and we might do something about Hussey and Symonds. We might consider it."

Ponting said Australia are taking no risks against Ireland and have prepared for them as they would against any other team.

"We have to be sure that nothing sneaks up on us and catches us unawares. We are preparing for this match as we would against South Africa or Sri Lanka," he said.

Despite Australia's impressive form at the World Cup, Ponting said he was still not happy with the team's performance.

"Until it gets to the stage where they are surprising themselves or surprising me then they haven't succeeded," he said.

Australia have won all six matches so far by wide margins and won't be easing up against last place Ireland.

"We're in the Super Eights now, it's not a warm-up match," said fast bowler Shaun Tait. "We've got to play in our best form.

"If we relax in any of these games and then come up against a big side, we might get done then. We've just got to concentrate on what we are doing at the moment."

The defending champions will be out to assert the supremacy that has brought them to the verge of the semi-finals without being seriously stretched in any of the six outings during the ongoing tournament.

Swamping all their opponents in the current tournament, Australia have already extended their unbeaten World Cup streak to 23 matches that stretches back to the 1999 World Cup where a tied semi-final against South Africa was the closest any team came to stopping the Aussies.

Emerging from five successive one-day defeats in the run-up to the World Cup, Australia are again looking awesome after recovering from a five-match losing spree before the World Cup.

Another Australian victory is expected on Friday, given Ireland's limited ability that has left the World Cup debutants as the only ones without a victory in the Super Eights.

Winner of the last two World Cups in 1999 and 2003, Australia are seeking to become the first team to complete a hat-trick of title triumphs.

The last two Super Eight matches will be against New Zealand and Sri Lanka.

"New Zealand and Sri Lanka are the teams playing quality cricket, we expect them to be a quality threat," Tait said.

Ireland pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the current tournament by knocking out former world champions Pakistan from the preliminary round.

The Super Eights qualification in their first World Cup appearance has been the high point of Ireland's cricket history. The Irish cricketers produced stubborn competition against fancied South Africa, England and New Zealand, but stumbled due to their inexperience.

Line-ups:

Australia (from): Ricky Ponting (captain), Matthew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist, Michael Clarke, Andrew Symonds, Michael Hussey, Brad Hogg, Nathan Bracken, Shaun Tait, Glenn McGrath, Brad Hodge, Mitchell Johnson, Brad Haddin, Stuart Clark.

Ireland (from): Trent Johnston (captain), Jeremy Bray, William Porterfield, Eoin Morgan, Niall O'Brien, Andre Botha, Kevin O'Brien, Andrew White, Kyle McCallan, Dave Langford-Smith, Boyd Rankin, Kenneth Carroll, Peter Gillespie, John Mooney, Paul Mooney.

Umpires: Billy Bowden, New Zealand, and Rudi Koertzen, South Africa.

TV umpire: Steve Bucknor, West Indies. Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle, Sri Lanka.