Australia coach Darren Lehmann would consider playing all-rounder James Faulkner as a specialist batsman.
Along with Michael Clarke, Faulkner (side strain) has been ruled out of Australia's Cricket World Cup opener against England on Saturday.
Lehmann said Faulkner was batting without any issues, but he is yet to resume bowling.
Asked if the 24-year-old, who averages 48.12 with the bat in one-day internationals, could be picked as a batsman only – Lehmann said it was a possibility.
"We'll look at those options. Again, depending on where we're playing, what the conditions are like and who we're playing is probably the key," he told a media conference on Thursday.
"We'll look at all those."
But Lehmann believes Australia have an advantage thanks to their three pace-bowling all-rounders – Faulkner, Mitch Marsh and Shane Watson.
"It's a bit of an advantage for us, with all our all-rounders. Obviously that's the balance of the side we've gone with in selecting the squad," he said.
"It gives you a few more options, the wickets traditionally don't spin a lot here, they may spin a bit in New Zealand for example, but here they're good cricket wickets, they'll be high scoring so your quality of bowlers has to be there.
"We've got a bit of an advantage there with those three."