It won’t be a case of too many cooks spoiling the broth in Australia’s World Cup campaign, George Bailey insists.

Selectors retained Bailey as Michael Clarke’s understudy for the one-day tournament, despite Steve Smith earning widespread praise for the way he recently led Australia’s Test side.

Throw in knowledgeable keeper Brad Haddin, experienced allrounder Shane Watson and national Twenty20 skipper Aaron Finch and it’s a cavalcade of potential caretaker captains.

“The more leaders you’ve got within the squad the better,” Bailey said in Hobart on Sunday.

“Teams would be worried about it if you are relying too heavily … on any one person.

“It is about coming up with ideas and tactics and a lot of them you come up with in team meetings.

“The more help you are getting off field, on field … the more benefit the team has.”

If Clarke is unable to show selectors he is fully fit by February 12, Bailey will lead Australia’s bid to reclaim the World Cup.

Bailey’s experience, having captained the one-day side in 24 games, gave him the edge over Smith according to chief selector Rod Marsh.

“We took the view that George has done a wonderful job in Michael’s absence … he’s an experienced campaigner,” Marsh said.

“We don’t want to make it too hard on Steven just at this point in time, because he’s in such a rich vein of form.

“He’s pretty tired and I think he’ll relish the fact he can just go out there and play cricket. That’s the way we looked at it.”

Clarke noted Smith did a “fantastic job” captaining Australia in the final three Tests against India, while Bailey was also full of praise.

“The stuff he’s done the past couple of weeks has been absolutely outstanding,” Bailey said.

“He was a real help to me in that last one-day series against South Africa.”

Clarke suggested he had yet to contemplate handing over the one-day or Test captaincy.

“I still feel like I’ve got a lot to offer this team,” he said.

“While I’m still playing for Australia I would hope the selectors would still have that faith in me to captain in both formats.” O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN!

*Michael Clarke, led Australia in 67 ODIs – 44 wins, 20 losses, 3 no-results

*George Bailey, led Australia in 24 ODIs – 12 wins, 10 losses, 2 no-results

*Shane Watson – led Australia in 9 ODIs – 5 wins, 3 losses, 1 tie

*Steve Smith, Aaron Finch, Brad Haddin – captained Australia in other formats, yet to lead in an ODI.