T20 World Cup 2024: Mitch Marsh’s progress is slower but he will be fit to bowl, says coach McDonald

Australia coach Andrew McDonald on Tuesday said even though skipper Mitchell Marsh’s progress is slower than expected, the all-rounder will be fit to bowl in the upcoming T20 World Cup in USA and West Indies.

Marsh, who played for Delhi Capitals, returned from the Indian Premier League (IPL) in early April to recover from a right hamstring injury ahead of the shortest format’s marque event.

Besides Marsh, members of Australia’s World Cup squad who are not part of IPL assembled here on Tuesday for a training camp before jetting off for the Caribbean on May 25.

“He’s (Marsh) progressing well. Probably a little slower than expected. But we’ve got plenty of time now that he has been ruled out the IPL. (Our) first game is just short of a month away now. So ample time for him to get ready,” McDonald told reporters.

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“You probably won’t see him bowl in the next couple of weeks here. It’ll probably happen the week before we leave. And then he’ll be able to ramp that up when we’re over there.

“We’ll be able to cherry pick the moments during the tournament where he’ll be useful with the ball, (and) we’ve got some all-round depth in the squad, which gives us good coverage anyway,” he added.

McDonald said there was no concern around Marsh’s lack of match practice over the last two months as Australia will play some practice games before its T20 World Cup opener against Oman on June 5.

“No real concern about match fitness. We’ve got a couple of practice games when we get to Trinidad in the support period. So he’ll likely get plenty of match opportunities.

“And if not, we’ll be able to simulate those through practice, which our coaching staff are pretty good at. By the first game against Oman, we’re confident he’ll be up and running,” McDonald said.

Asked about the exclusion of young batting sensation Jake Fraser-McGurk from Australia’s squad and the fact that it will only have one player in its squad under the age of 28 in Cameron Green, McDonald said: “There’s been a discussion around the age profile of our team in all formats.

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“I’m a big believer in you don’t know when the end is going to be. And a lot of people write off those players just based around their age. We feel as though in the last 12 months in particular in the white-ball space we’ve given plenty of opportunities to other players,” he said.

“Have we gone back to the tried and tested in terms of World Cups and the performers that we know can perform on that stage? There’s no doubt about that. It’s players that have been there before and done it and are still in good form. And you look at David Warner in the last 15 games for Australia, his record is outstanding.

“Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, those players that are probably the elder statesman of the team are still performing at international level. And that goes a long way.”