After blanking the West Indies 5-0 in the recent T20I series, even without a slew of their star players, Australia are limbering up well for the 2026 T20 World Cup, slated to be held in India and Sri Lanka. Skipper Mitchell Marsh confirmed that he will not be seen in a bowling role for a considerable time as he continues to build strength from the injury setback that had ruled him out of the Champions Trophy earlier this year.
While Australia have a wide range of power-hitting floaters to choose from, Marsh all but confirmed the openers for the next edition of the T20 World Cup that is only six months away.
“It’ll be myself and Heady (Travis Head) up the top for the foreseeable future,” Marsh said in Darwin on Friday ahead of the three-match T20I series against South Africa.
“Obviously we’ve played a lot together, (we’ve) got a great relationship, so (we’ll) start there.”
“As a group leading into the World Cup the messaging has been about requiring guys to be flexible,” he said.
In Head’s absence in the Caribbean, veteran all-rounder Glenn Maxwell chipped in as Marsh’s opening partner, playing some powerful cameos.
“Any good T20 side has guys that can play a number of roles, we started that really well in the West Indies and hopefully that continues.
Story continues below this ad
Marsh said even as he continues to build strength to return to bowling duties, Australia aren’t short on options.
“For me the bowling is currently offline, but it’s certainly not offline forever, at this stage it will be series by series, we’ve got plenty of options.
“We’ve got 15 games to the World Cup so we will keep working on the style we want to play, make sure our guys are enjoying every bit of it and win the series.”
Marsh also hinted towering power-hitter Tim David could be promoted up the order after his sensational century against West Indies. David obliterated the record books with the fastest century by an Australian in T20Is in only 37 balls.
Story continues below this ad
“We’ve spoken about it … we saw that in the Caribbean, that he came in earlier than he would normally,” Marsh said.
“His skill set is made for that.
“The more balls he faces, hopefully the more games he wins us.”
Post the three T20Is against the Proteas, Australia will also play three ODIs across Darwin, Cairns and Mackay.
