Preparations are nearly done in which major sparks have come from the misunderstood Davey Warner and South African captain AB de Villiers who smashed the record for the quickest one-day century with an outrageous 31-ball display of skill and power against the West Indies.
In one-day cricket we marvel at those sorts of feats for a day or two then move to the next piece of pyrotechnics while we are left with longer impressions from remarkable deeds in test cricket.
Cue Brendon McCullum for his recent deeds including the only triple test century by a New Zealander and a slew of other substantial innings which sent him past 1000 test runs in a year. It was terrific stuff from a bloke who also captains his side with growing intuition and savvy planning.
Sri Lankan skipper Angelo Mathews averages more than 50 in tests and led his side to a historic last-series win against England with his resolute batting, occasional bowling and determined leadership.
When injury and weariness removed Michael Clarke and MS Dhoni from test leadership in the recent Australia-India series, Steve Smith and Virat Kohli embraced those extra duties with relish. Kohli carries a fractious edge with his work but it does not appear to impact on his batting.
De Villiers has moved into the leadership of South Africa and runs his group with a more charming attitude than Kohli, and his stroke play and run production across all forms of the game are powerfully consistent.
England have ditched Alastair Cook from leading their shorter form programme and replacement Eion Morgan's opening century gambit against Australia offered a beacon of optimism his side can find some form at the World Cup, although his subsequent drift in form is starting to have a whiff of Cook about it.
McCullum, Matthews, Smith, Kohli, de Villiers and Morgan bring batting as their strongest suit alongside their leadership. In tests, they all bat in the middle order with a range of approaches from the rumbustious McCullum to the unorthodox Smith and steadier Morgan while in the World Cup, McCullum is the major mover to open for New Zealand.
Who is most appealing batsman among those leaders, who demands forays from your seat or a between-overs trip?
Averages will do it for some, others will be drawn to a style while those with a thirst for more intricate details will delve into players' technique against pace and spin, how they perform on different tracks and whether they make their runs in a crisis or, in the case of tests, in a second innings.
Opinions will vary as much as those who swear left-handers bring more grace to the batting crease. It's whatever picture suits your eye and your outlook, something which may trigger memories of the flamboyant Rohan Kanhai playing his cricket, how Greg Chappell brought an easy technical grace to the crease or the pugnacity from Javed Miandad.
Asked to choose one of the batting kingpins who have been in our mirrors since Christmas, my decision would be Kohli although its a judgment which needs a third umpire to separate him from de Villiers.
It's everything to do with the flourishing bristle Kohli brings alongside his batting class. It begins with the twirls of the bat handle as his intensity sizes up the field and stares down the bowler he wants to dominate. Maybe there's a hint of the old Viv Richards swagger which grabs me.
It's everything to do with the purity of stroke Kohli looks to bring to each delivery and the clean flow of his blade as he attacks or is forced to defend his wicket. He mixes that with wristy flicks or improvised glides to send the 5 ounces of leather into gaps past the most alert fieldsmen.
Kohli will take on the short ball as well. His batting approach fits into the attitude he encouraged as he hit 141 in a final day's vain chase for 364 against the Australians at Adelaide before Christmas.
There is a high tempo about his batting and Kohli breaks up fields and upsets bowlers' rhythm with his ability to work singles or attack the ropes. It's Kohli by a smidgen ahead of the mix of classical and unorthodox strokeplay de Villiers brings to the crease although that order may be reversed when the World Cup is done.
