Why Tye can still spy a World Cup high

Andrew Tye stressed he remains optimistic of earning a spot in Australia's World Cup squad after the death-bowling specialist returned the best figures of the KFC BBL season on Wednesday.

The crafty Tye collected 4-18 from his four overs to stifle the Melbourne Stars at the MCG on Wednesday and lift the Perth Scorchers out of their unfamiliar position on the bottom of the BBL ladder.

While he's become a regular in the national T20 side in recent times, the right-armer fell out of favour in the 50-over arena after Australia's nightmare ODI series whitewash at the hands of England in June.

After a promising haul of 2-41 in the opening match of that campaign, Tye conceded 81 from nine overs in Cardiff and then 100 from nine overs in England's record-breaking tally of 481 at Trent Bridge.

But while the 32-year-old has been overlooked for the ODI side since, he revealed feedback from national selectors to improve his bowling with the new ball when only two fielders are allowed on the boundary has given him clear direction.

"They communicated to me when I got dropped as to why I was dropped," Tye told cricket.com.au after a Cameron Bancroft half-century sealed the Scorchers’ six-wicket win.

"They just said I was a bit unreliable in the Power Play.

"In England, we all got a bit of a taste of it over there from a bowling perspective. It's just something to work on, it's really critical to the team success.

"It's something I'll go and work on and it's one thing I need to work on. Luckily it was only one thing."

While Tye came in for heavy punishment against England last year, he's shown numerous glimpses of his capabilities in international cricket.

After collecting a maiden international five-wicket haul on home soil against England last January, Tye was the leading wicket-taker in a T20 tri-series against England and New Zealand, helping a depleted Australian side win the tournament.

Given how the 50-over game increasingly demands similar skills to the T20 format, finding a dependable death bowler looms as vital for Australia's struggling one-day team.

"I definitely don't feel like I'm out of contention, I'd like to think I'm still part of the World Cup picture," said Tye.

"We'll just have to wait and see. That's the way it is at the moment – blokes who have got a chance have not performed all that well."

Tye admitted he'd struggled for rhythm earlier in the BBL and has worked with Scorchers coaching staff on staying taller at the bowling crease in a bid to increase his pace.

The manner in which he claimed his first two victims on Wednesday suggested the remedial work has been successful. Tye surprised returning Stars skipper Nic Maddinson, a month after he broke his arm on the same ground, with a brute of a short ball, before clean bowling Dwayne Bravo with a full ball that was clocked at 140kph.

"At the start of the tournament, I was bowling my quicker balls at about 128(kph)," Tye explained.

"Finding a bit more rhythm, a bit more pace is definitely always a good thing. I'm feeling pretty good at the moment.

"At the start of the tournament I felt a bit out of sorts – I worked hard and had a chat to the bowling coach and the coach, about what was happening and why I was feeling like this.

"I made a few adjustments and it's feeling pretty good now."

And he revealed the dismissal of Maddinson was the culmination of planning that identified the left-hander as susceptible to the short ball given how he’d injured his arm in a Shield game last month.

"He was playing against WA when he broke it so we had spoken about it and we tried to get him first up with the yorker (with Maddinson) thinking that we might have gone with the short ball first ball," Tye said.

"To get it the way we did, it was certainly a plan."