Eng vs Aus 1st T20 – Mitchell Marsh’s bowling takes a backseat as other bowlers step up

“I’m just building,” Marsh said. “I don’t usually bowl too much, honest answer, and we’re lucky to have a lot of bowling options in our team, so we’ll see how we go… my online bowling: whether or not I save, we’ll wait and see.

“A lot of our priorities will be focused on that,” said Andrew McDonald, Australia’s coach SEN Tuesday morning. “You will see that from the managers of our players. [Sheffield] Shield cricket will go into the summer to ensure they are ready for the first Test.”

Australia play Pakistan in three ODIs and three T20Is in November, and it is expected that whoever is included in the Test squad will not feature in the T20Is. “We may have to give up a bit in terms of the Pakistan white-ball series with some players, to make sure we’re well prepared,” McDonald said. “We are really looking forward to the arrival of India.”

The UK tour is Australia’s first men’s cricket since their exit from the Super Eight at the T20 World Cup in June, which saw them win their first five matches before back-to-back defeats against Afghanistan and India saw them go out. Marsh has retained the T20 captaincy – and will stand in for Cummins in the five ODIs against England – but has been coy about his long-term ambitions.

“It feels like a long time ago now, that T20 World Cup,” Marsh said. “It was just disappointing: we went there hoping to win it, like all teams do, and unfortunately, we didn’t play our best cricket at the right time. In a tournament, that’s what you hope for…there’s a lot of cricket to be played between now and the next World Cup [in 2026] but I hope I am.”

McDonald singled out Australia’s performance as the main reason for their failure to reach the semi-finals, particularly dropping five points in the loss to Afghanistan. “We have a few things to fix, but obviously the main thing for us that disappointed us is our performance… that makes it really difficult for the captain and the team to work.

“There have been discussions about Mitch Marsh and his captain, but if you create opportunities for the team with your bowling changes and your position on the field is how we will criticize the captain, I thought he did a very good job. They couldn’t do it at those times, and that played the game for Afghanistan.”