Cricket News

Australia narrows down to nine players for T20 World Cup amid IPL crunch

Australia will be sorely missed in their two T20 World Cup matches with players caught up late in the IPL being given a short break at home before heading to the Caribbean.

They are expected to have just nine players available for the match against Namibia on Tuesday (Wednesday morning Australian time) and their resources have been stretched by captain Mitchell Marsh who is not ready to bowl following an injury that ended his IPL. They also play fellow hosts West Indies on Thursday.

“It’s important to be flexible,” Marsh said cricket.com.au. “The boys have been in the IPL for a long time. They’ve been playing a lot of cricket so we’ve made it a priority to give them a few days at home, see their family, refresh and play the long game of the tournament. We’ll have our 15 at the end but it’s really important to give them a break, even then [just] a few days at home.”

It means Australia will need to call on members of the coaching staff to take part during warm-up matches if they are to be fully compliant. Brad Hodge has joined the support staff for the tournament while head coach Andrew McDonald, national selector George Bailey and assistant coach Andre Borovec could also be called up.

Daniel Vettori, another assistant coach, will also be part of the team after the IPL where he was the coach of Sunrisers Hyderabad but would not be eligible to participate in the warm-up matches with those from the country involved.

Marsh, who will captain Australia for the first time in an international game, was confident of playing both warm-up matches as a batsman despite a slower-than-expected recovery from a hamstring injury he picked up while playing for the Delhi Capitals.

“I’m just marking the last few things I need to mark so I can be in good shape and be found,” he said. “Everything went well today. It’s been slow going but it’s finally here and we’re looking to get stuck in the competition.

“Initially we thought it would be three weeks but the muscles can take a long time and you have to feel it. When I was taken out of the IPL we certainly took our time to get it right again. I feel lucky to have that extra time, a little time at home to freshen up and like everyone else who came today I’m ready to go. “

Some teams have opted out of warm-up games altogether but Australia’s two warm-ups will be crucial for players coming in from the off-season – Adam Zampa, Josh Inglis, Josh Hazlewood and Ashton Agar – and the likes of Matthew Wade and Nathan Ellis who have made it. doesn’t add much to their IPL sides. David Warner, who will end his international career at the World Cup, is coming into the tournament after a spell in the IPL with a hand injury.

“He [Warner] he didn’t really score, then he got a bad hit on his hand. In fact, he had the worst bone injury and concussion on the back of his hand that I have ever seen,” Ricky Ponting, the coach of Delhi Capitals, told ICC review. “He is a busy young competitor who, when the World Cup comes, he will play the colors of Australia again, I have no problem with him.”


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