Mitchell Marsh to lead Team Australia for white-ball tour of South Africa: Mitchell Marsh will lead Team Australia for the white-ball tour of South Africa after Steve Smith and Mitchell Starc were ruled out due to injuries. Australia is also without the services of Pat Cummins, who is recovering from a wrist fracture suffered during the Ashes.
Smith is nursing a tendon injury in his left wrist that will take around four weeks to heal, while Starc has been experiencing groin pain since returning from the UK.
Smith and Starc are both likely to be ready for Australia’s ODI series against India and the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup. And has been given adequate rest and recovery time prior to the commencement of the important competition.
National selection panel chair George Bailey said:- “The compacted Ashes series and the World Test Championship was a heavy load for the group, and we are taking a conservative approach to the build-up to the World Cup,”
“With the World Cup the priority of the squad, it was determined on advice that it was best for Steve (Smith) and Mitchell (Starc) to join the group in India by which time we expect them to be fully fit and available for the Indian ODI series, plus the World Cup warm-up fixture.”
Meanwhile, Cummins is anticipated to join the team in South Africa later in the trip. Smith has been replaced in South Africa’s T20I squad by Ashton Turner, while Marnus Labuschagne and Spencer Johnson have replaced both Smith and Starc in the ODI team.
The white-ball series consists of three T20Is followed by five ODIs, with the tour beginning on August 30 in Durban and ending on September 17 in Johannesburg.
Squads for Australia tour of South Africa
Australia T20 squad: Mitchell Marsh (c), Sean Abbott, Jason Behrendorff, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Aaron Hardie, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Glenn Maxwell, Matt Short, Marcus Stoinis, Ashton Turner, Adam Zampa
Australia ODI squad: Mitchell Marsh (c), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa
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