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The 2021 T20 World Cup champions, Australia registered a 35-run defeat against co-hosts West Indies on Friday, May 31 in their build-up to the T20 World Cup 2024. The Mitchell Marsh-led side, who fielded a depleted squad due to shortage of players, fell short by 35 runs to surpass the West Indies challenge in their second warm-up match.
Australia will begin their T20 World Cup 2024 campaign against Oman on June 6 (IST) at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, Head Coach Andrew McDonald have provided a big update on their skipper. Marsh, who will be leading the side, will not be bowling in match against Oman and will play as a specialist batter. The Aussie all-rounder, who continues to recover from a hamstring injury which he sustained during the IPL 2024, did not take the field for the entire inning during the warm-up fixtures.
“For Mitch, was about ticking off where his body was at. He fielded more overs tonight, he was able to move more freely, so he’s building a little bit of confidence there. It looks as though he’s all set for the first game,” Andrew McDonald told cricket.com.au. “The second part is just when the bowling comes back online… it won’t be the first game,” the Australian head coach further added.
Furthermore, in the absence of Mitchell Marsh at the helm, Matthew Wade took over the leadership responsibilities.
We have plenty of time to bring that group together: Andrew McDonald
The Australian Head Coach, Andrew McDonald was also asked about the players’ availability for the T20 World Cup 2024. Speaking with cricket.com.au, McDonald further added that the plans to rest a few players after the conclusion of IPL 2024 was decided and they have plans set for them as they get together ahead of their campaign opener in the West Indies.
“It was by design, in terms of when we were getting people back after the IPL; we were well aware we weren’t going to get the squad together until the first of next month. We’ve got some things in place where we’ll bring that group together. We’ll work through our plans leading into Oman and there’s a bit of space between that game and England,” he said.
“We feel as though we have plenty of time to bring that group together. It’s familiar group, they’ve played a lot together. If they hadn’t played a lot together then the prep might have looked different. We feel comfortable though as they know how to play with each other. It will just be finalising the XIs for the games, and the balances that we want. We’ve got plenty of options,” he added.
