Australia T20 World Cup spots on the line at Manuka Oval: Adam Gilchrist

That will include whether Mitchell Marsh will be able to bowl during the two Twenty20 Internationals against England at Manuka on Wednesday and Friday nights.

Gilchrist was excited at the cricket that would be on show in the capital, labelling England opener Jos Buttler the most damaging T20 player in the world.

The Aussies have been experimenting with their line-up in their earlier games, with Finch batting in the middle order and Cameron Green opening.

But Gilchrist expected them to hone in on their starting XI for their World Cup opener against New Zealand at the SCG on Saturday week.

Finch has already declared he will open in Canberra, with the rest of the line-up to take shape over the final two games against England.

Gilchrist said there was a potential selection headache on the way trying to fit Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Tim David and Matthew Wade into the middle order - although Maxwell does need a good innings to click into gear.

David has emerged from nowhere as a World Cup X-factor, with the T20 journeyman's clean hitting a potential boon in the final overs.

"[Australia have] shown some really impressive signs," Gilchrist said.

"It's been well documented they've been experimenting a little bit and shuffling through a few different options for different players - trying to take a whole-of-squad mentality into the World Cup.

"It sounds like that might start to get a bit more tailored towards getting their XI sorted over these two games in Canberra, with an eye to that opening fixture against New Zealand on the 22nd.

"They're a team that's got plenty of options."

Gilchrist said Finch had to open.

The Australian captain has enjoyed his time at Manuka - scoring two one-day-international hundreds and averaging 69.6 at the picturesque ground.

He's also averaged 29 in three T20Is in Canberra.

"I don't think there's any need for him to move away from [opening]," Gilchrist said.

"That's where he's carved out an outstanding career. You can understand why he shuffled down to create options for others, but that's definitely the spot to bat."

Gilchrist said one of the points of interest would be how much Marsh would be able to bowl.

The hard-hitting allrounder smashed 36 runs off 26 balls in Australia's narrow loss to England in Perth on Sunday.

But an ankle injury suffered against Zimbabwe has restricted his bowling.

"Mitch Marsh will be the one everyone's focusing on - whether he's got any overs in him, if he's fit enough yet to start bowling," Gilchrist said.

"It's a pretty handy part of the bowling structure to know that if Finch needs to go to Marsh he can, that's a nice variety."

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Buttler (68 runs off 32 balls) and fellow England opener Alex Hales (84 off 51) were brilliant in their win in Perth.

Not surprisingly it had Gilchrist licking his lips at the chance to see Buttler two more times in Canberra.

He'll be one of the keys to England's chances of winning their first T20 World Cup since 2010.

Australia's the current world champions, having beated New Zealand in the final in Dubai last year.

"We saw a high-quality game in Perth between two of the favourites for the World Cup and England were really impressive," Gilchrist said.

"The opportunity to get down twice in three days to see a player like Jos Buttler, who I think's probably the most damaging T20 player in the world at the moment."

T20 INTERNATIONAL

Wednesday: Australia v England at Manuka Oval, 7.10pm.

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