Australia Announces Squad for T20 World Cup, Big Names Left Out
Notable absences from the Australian squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup include veteran batter Steve Smith, rising star Jake Fraser-McGurk, seasoned seamer Jason Behrendorff, and all-rounder Matt Short. The reigning 2021 T20 World Cup champions have sprung a few surprises with their selection for the month-long tournament set to take place in the West Indies and the USA.
Ashton Agar, the left-arm spinner, has earned a recall despite not having played a T20I since the last T20 World Cup held in Australia in 2022. Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, and Cameron Green join Glenn Maxwell in the final squad as all-rounder options.
Mitchell Marsh has been confirmed as the full-time T20I captain by Australia, coinciding with the squad announcement.
ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024: Squads Announced So Far
George Bailey, the selection chair, is confident that Australia has a well-balanced squad for the ninth edition of the T20 World Cup. He believes the team’s extensive World Cup experience and variety of structures will be advantageous given the unique nature of the venues and opponents in the West Indies.
“Ashton Agar’s return to the squad after a series of unfortunate injuries is a welcome addition. We believe Ashton, along with Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Cam Green, and Mitch Marsh, can play a crucial role in this tournament, complementing our front-line attack options. The batting options available allow a tailored approach to each venue and opponent,” Bailey said.
Bailey acknowledged that the squad size of 15 meant that many in-form players were unlucky to miss out on selection. He mentioned Steve Smith, Matt Short, Jason Behrendorff, Aaron Hardie, Spencer Johnson, and Xavier Bartlett as part of lengthy discussions, along with several others, including Jake Fraser-McGurk who is yet to play T20 International cricket but continues to impress and develop rapidly.
“Being constrained to a squad of 15 for World Cups is always a challenge given the different scenarios and options we’d like to cover. We will continue monitoring several players who have missed out on this preliminary squad and note that if we need to change this squad, we have the option to do so over the coming month in accordance with ICC regulations. Ultimately the balance of the final 15 needs to provide the best chance of being successful in this campaign,” Bailey added.
Travis Head made a brilliant catch when Rohit Sharma mistimed a ball towards the covers.
While Marsh has been performing the role as interim captain of Australia’s T20I side for much of the last 12 months, the T20 World Cup will be his first major tournament as skipper.
“It’s been an immense privilege to play for my country and now an even greater honour to lead the squad to a World Cup,” Marsh said, “We have had some strong success in recent times and I am hopeful that will continue in what looks like a wide-open tournament.”
Australia will kick off their T20 World Cup campaign against Oman in Barbados on June 5, followed by Group B fixtures against England, Namibia, and Scotland.
Australia Squad:
Mitchell Marsh (c), 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
All teams are allowed to make changes to their squad until 25 May, after which any alteration will require approval from ICC’s Event Technical Committee.