Australia have struggling to gather 11 players for their T20 World Cup warm-up match against Namibia scheduled for Monday (Tuesday, 4:30 AM IST). There’s a possibility that just 8 players from their squad of 15 could be available for the contest should captain Mitchell Marsh opt out as he continues recovery from a hamstring injury.
A bunch of Australia stars were busy representing various teams in the just-concluded IPL 2024 with three of them – Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Travis Head – involved in the title clash held on Sunday night in Chennai.
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Cricket Australia decided to give the world cup squad members who played in IPL 2024 some time to rest before returning to action for the T20 showpiece set to get underway from June 1.
Cameron Green, Glenn Maxwell (Both Royal Challengers Bengaluru) and Marcus Stoinis (Lucknow Super Giants) are yet to touchdown in Barbados. While Stoinis is expected to arrive only after the Namibia practice match, the duo of Green and Maxwell will link by the end of the week.
“We’re going to be undermanned,” Marsh was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au. “But it is a practice game. The guys who need to play will play as much as they can and we’ll figure it out from there. It’s important to be flexible. Guys who have been at the IPL have been playing a lot of cricket.”
“We prioritised giving them a couple of days at home to see their families, refresh, and play the long game for this tournament. We’ve also got guys that have played in the final tonight (Sunday),” he added.
Should Marsh also opt out of the fixture due to a hamstring injury that cut short his IPL 2024 stint with Delhi Capitals, Australia will have seven players unavailable for their first warm-up fixture.
Australia’s support staff comprising Andrew McDonald, Brad Hodge, George Bailey and Andre Borovec might end up taking should they be needed.
“We will get our 15 (all together) eventually, but really important that we give them a break, even if it’s just a couple of days at home, that’s really important,” Marsh said.
Marsh hasn’t started bowling yet but maintains a positive outlook as Australia hope to win their second T20 World title.
“I’m probably still a little while off (bowling) – I’ll start bowling hopefully soon. Get through these practice games as a batter and then we’ll ramp it up,” Marsh said.
“We’re lucky that we’ve got so many options with the ball and so much talent with Stoin, Greeny. I’ll bowl when I need to bowl. I thought (this injury) was a three-weeker. Now it’s been seven (weeks). With tendons it’s a little bit on feel. Once I was ruled out of the IPL, we certainly took our time. I’m exactly where I need to be with all the planning leading into the World Cup, I’ll be ready to go,” he added.
Australia full squad: Mitch Marsh (captain), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa
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