Mitchell Marsh’s return to bowling remains uncertain as Australia prepares for their T20I series against Pakistan. Marsh has been sidelined for five months due to a hamstring injury sustained during the IPL. Despite his absence, Australia boasts a plethora of all-rounders, including Jake Fraser-McGurk, who is the only squad member who neither bowls nor keeps wicket.
Marsh expressed his willingness to prioritize opportunities for Cameron Green and Aaron Hardie with the ball, suggesting that his own medium pace may not be necessary. “I’m sort of just building,” Marsh said. “I don’t tend to bowl myself too much, and we’re lucky that we’ve got plenty of bowling options within our team.”
Australia’s management is prioritizing player workloads ahead of the five-match Test series against India, which begins on November 22. Pat Cummins has been rested from the entire England tour to manage his bowling load. “A lot of our priorities will be geared around that,” said coach Andrew McDonald. “We’ll be very pointed around who does what in terms of [Sheffield] Shield cricket coming into the summer to make sure that they are ready for that first Test match.”
Marsh’s availability for the T20Is against Pakistan is uncertain, as players included in the Test squad are expected to be rested. “We may have to give up a little bit in terms of that Pakistan white-ball series with certain players, to make sure that we are firmly prepared,” McDonald said.
Australia’s recent T20 World Cup campaign ended in disappointment, with back-to-back defeats against Afghanistan and India eliminating them from the Super Eight. Marsh, who retained the T20 captaincy, acknowledged the team’s shortcomings. “We went there with the hope of winning it, like every other team did, and unfortunately, we didn’t play our best cricket at the right time,” Marsh said.
McDonald identified fielding as a key area for improvement. “We’ve got a few things that we need to work through, but clearly the key area for us that was disappointing was our fielding,” he said. “That makes it really difficult for the captain and the team to function.”
