BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Mitchell Marsh’s Australia team has faced a tumultuous buildup to the ICC T20 World Cup 2026, and he acknowledges this.
Josh Hazlewood has been ruled out due to a long-term hamstring injury, meaning Australia will enter a World Cup for the first time since 2011 without any of its three main pace bowlers.
Pat Cummins is injured, and Mitchell Starc has retired from T20 Cricket.
Adding to the challenges, former captain Steve Smith has not been selected.
On the field, the team suffered a 3-0 series defeat in Pakistan, marking their biggest loss in T20 history.
Marsh is already looking past that setback.
“Pakistan was Pakistan,” the all-rounder said during the tournament’s captains’ meeting in Colombo. “We had some players missing, but we had a long lead-up and a good training session yesterday.”
“We’ll be well prepared for our first game.” Luckily, that game isn’t until Wednesday.
Australia usually approaches global International Cricket Council tournaments as favorites. They have excelled in the one-day format and reached two out of three World Test Championship finals, winning the T20 world title in 2021.
Before the Pakistan trip, Australia had won 17 out of 21 T20 matches. However, this time, they are facing injuries and a slow transition in the team.
The tournament, co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka, begins Saturday with Pakistan facing the Netherlands. Australia’s first match is on February 11 against Ireland in Colombo, marking the start of four Group B matches in ten days, which also includes games against Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, and Oman.
The Australian batters had difficulties against spin on slow pitches in Pakistan, and similar conditions await in Sri Lanka.
After the quick trip to Pakistan, Marsh stated that the home team had “outplayed us throughout the series.”
“We will take learnings from that,” he said. “We will address this series and look forward to the World Cup.”
Good news for Australia includes the return of all-rounder Glenn Maxwell, powerful batsman Tim David, and fast bowler Nathan Ellis, who have arrived in Colombo.
Maxwell is recognized as one of the top T20 players globally and can change the course of a game with his batting, bowling, and fielding.
His performance will be crucial, along with Marsh and Travis Head, who are expected to deliver strong starts. Head has shown he can be a key player in Tests and ODIs and is well-suited for T20 with his ability against spin. Although he hasn’t scored a half-century in his last 11 T20 international innings, he could be ready for this tournament.
In the depleted bowling lineup, Ellis, who is recovering from a hamstring injury, and experienced spinner Adam Zampa are essential to the team’s success.
Zampa has achieved 139 wickets in 111 T20 internationals at an economy rate of 7.37 and a strike rate of 17, playing a significant role in the 2021 title victory.
Initially, Hazlewood was expected to start late in the tournament and remained in Sydney for recovery, with Sean Abbott sent to Sri Lanka as a traveling reserve.
“We were hopeful Josh would regain match fitness by the Super Eights stage, but he is still a bit away,” Australian selector Tony Dodemaide stated on Friday. “Trying to speed up his recovery could be risky.”
“We won’t name a replacement player right now. We feel we have enough support for the initial games and will make decisions later based on priority need.”
