Big names miss out as Australia reveal their squad for ICC T20 World Cup 2024

[BouncerGuy]

Mitchell Marsh has been appointed captain of the Australian men’s T20 team and will lead the side at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.

The Cricket Australia Board this morning formalised Marsh’s appointment. He joins Pat Cummins as captains of the Australian men’s team across all formats.

The National Selection Panel (NSP) today named a provisional 15-player men’s squad for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in the West Indies and the US.

Mitchell Marsh said: “It’s been an immense privilege to play for my country and now an even greater honour to lead the squad to a World Cup.

“I am extremely grateful to have such a good group of people in our players and staff. We have had some strong success in recent times and I am hopeful that will continue in what looks like a wide-open tournament.

“We take a very experienced group to the West Indies, I very much look forward to the challenge and working alongside Andrew (McDonald), the coaches, players and staff.”

Provisional Australian squad for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup:

Mitchell Marsh (Perth Scorchers/Fremantle Cricket Club) (c)

Ashton Agar (Perth Scorchers/University Cricket Club)

Pat Cummins (Sydney Thunder/Penrith Cricket Club)

Tim David (Hobart Hurricanes/Claremont-Nedlands Cricket Club)

Nathan Ellis (Hobart Hurricanes/ Lindisfarne Cricket Club)

Cameron Green (WA/Subiaco-Floreat Cricket Club)

Josh Hazlewood (NSW/St George Cricket Club)

Travis Head (Adelaide Strikers/Tea Tree Gully Cricket Club)

Josh Inglis (Perth Scorchers/Joondalup Cricket Club)

Glenn Maxwell (Melbourne Stars/Fitzroy Doncaster Cricket Club)

Mitchell Starc (Sydney Sixers/Manly Warringah Cricket Club)

Marcus Stoinis (Melbourne Stars/Subiaco Floreat Cricket Club)

Matthew Wade (Hobart Hurricanes/Clarence Cricket Club)

David Warner (Sydney Thunder/Randwick Petersham Cricket Club)

Adam Zampa (Melbourne Renegades/Sutherland Cricket Club)

Cricket Australia Chair Mike Baird said: “Mitchell has been an exemplary player and leader within the group for a long period of time.

“He has developed his captaincy in state and BBL cricket and now extends this leadership to international level. The Board looks forward to watching the team in the West Indies and wish them every success.”

Executive General Manager, High Performance and National Teams Ben Oliver said: "It has been pleasing to watch Mitch’s rise, particularly since his return to Test cricket last year, to further leadership opportunities.

“We welcome Mitch as the 12th Australian T20 men’s captain, following a long list of exceptional leaders within the history of Australian cricket.”

NSP Chair of Selectors George Bailey said: “This is an experienced squad with extensive World Cup experience that offers a variety of structures and covers the scenarios the panel believes will factor in the West Indies with the unique nature of the venues and our opponents.

“It’s great to have Ashton Agar back into the squad following a spate of unfortunate and untimely injuries.

“We believe Ashton can play a critical role in this tournament along with Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Cam Green and Mitch Marsh in complementing our front-line attack options.

“The batting options available allow a tailored approach to each venue and opponent.”

Bailey acknowledged some of the omissions from recent T20 sides.

“Steve Smith, Matt Short, Jason Behrendorff, Aaron Hardie, Spencer Johnson and Xavier Bartlett were all part of long conversations, along with several others, including Jake Fraser-McGurk who is yet to play T20 International cricket but continues to impress and is developing rapidly.

“Being constrained to a squad of 15 for World Cups is always a challenge given the different scenarios and options we’d like to cover.

“We will continue monitoring several players who have missed out on this preliminary squad and note that if we wish to change this squad, we have the option to do so over the coming weeks in accordance with ICC regulations.

“Ultimately the balance of the final 15 needs to provide the best chance of being successful in this campaign.”

Note: The squad can be amended without ICC Event Technical Committee approval until the 25th of May, 2024.

2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup

Australia's Group B fixtures

June 6: v Oman, Kensington Oval, Barbados, 10.30am AEST

June 9: v England, Kensington Oval, Barbados, 3am AEST

June 12: v Namibia, Sir Viv Richards Stadium, Antigua, 10.30am AEST

June 16: v Scotland, Daren Sammy Stadium, St Lucia, 10.30am AEST

SOURCE: Cricket Australia

 

[jnaveen1980]

predictable. Who will play. Wade or Inglis? They could have tried Mcgurk in place one of them. Otherwise predictable.

 

[mominsaigol]

Missed opportunity, Jake should have been frontline keeper.

 

[BouncerGuy]

Very interesting that they left Mcgurk out. Smith is dropped and rightly so but this young lad was smashing everyone in the ongoing IPL, I guess he could have been in. Australia might make a change or 2 as the deadline approaches.

 

[BouncerGuy]

Well, this is one unique way to announce your squad.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1785491831838658887

 

[jnaveen1980]

Very interesting that they left Mcgurk out. Smith is dropped and rightly so but this young lad was smashing everyone in the ongoing IPL, I guess he could have been in. Australia might make a change or 2 as the deadline approaches.

Aussie fans are upset over McGurk exclusion. Nobody wants Warner. It seems like this obsession with experience is hurting them as well.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

It's clear that nobody is taking IPL performances seriously this year.

 

[mominsaigol]

Aussie fans are upset over McGurk exclusion. Nobody wants Warner. It seems like this obsession with experience is hurting them as well.

Their going for Warner cause its his last WC.

I don't understand why both can't play? Mcfraser would be gun at no 3 and it would give a good president have your youngster get the honor if batting at the best bat position.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Their going for Warner cause its his last WC.

I don't understand why both can't play? Mcfraser would be gun at no 3 and it would give a good president have your youngster get the honor if batting at the best bat position.

yes. They could have dropped Wade. I think they still have time to c hange. If McGurk makes a 100 in IPL in the coming days he can still hope.

But WIth their seniors one thing is guarantee. Their fielding will still be spot on unlike the seniors we have. Rohit is too slow to field or catch. Kohli can field but can't catch.

 

[mominsaigol]

yes. They could have dropped Wade. I think they still have time to c hange. If McGurk makes a 100 in IPL in the coming days he can still hope.

But WIth their seniors one thing is guarantee. Their fielding will still be spot on unlike the seniors we have. Rohit is too slow to field or catch. Kohli can field but can't catch.

Their fielding is always spot on, Mcfraser Is a gun keeper.

Australian fielders are built different irrespective of age.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

It's clear that nobody is taking IPL performances seriously this year.

He wasn't taken because Australia wanted the extra allrounder in Cameron Green

 

[BouncerGuy]

 

[mominsaigol]

Amazon prime really be pulling out all the stops against Netflix lol

 

[FearlessRoar]

Quite an artistic ad

 

[Cricket Warrior]

motive of this ad is that Usman Khawaja must be watching this World Cup at home because he has never been picked for Australia.

 

[Bewal Express]

Australia have no pressure on them. No one in Australia will care if they win or lose. This gives them a licence to play without fear of failure and this is the reason they are favourites pretty every tournament

 

[Ab Fan]

India vs Australia another final..

Head out for 0 this time and India wins.

Balle balle

 

[Cricket Warrior]

India vs Australia another final..

Head out for 0 this time and India wins.

Balle balle

Head out for 0 but maxwell scored a century and Australia gets another win

 

[jnaveen1980]

India vs Australia another final..

Head out for 0 this time and India wins.

Balle balle

Once again i expect toss to play a crucial role some matches. In a crucial match a hot favorite team can be knocked out by a lesser favorite side just because of toss. England played better in 2021 than in 2022. But toss knocked them out in 2021 Same toss helped them in 2022 and they won.

 

[cricketjoshila]

It's clear that nobody is taking IPL performances seriously this year.

What about BBL performance?

 

[BouncerGuy]

Australia announces final squad for ICC Men’s T20 World Cup

The National Selection Panel (NSP) today confirmed the final squad for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in the West Indies and the US.

Australia has retained the previously announced 15-player squad and added two travelling reserves.

Australian squad for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup:

Mitchell Marsh (Perth Scorchers/Fremantle Cricket Club) (c)

Ashton Agar (Perth Scorchers/University Cricket Club)

Pat Cummins (Sydney Thunder/Penrith Cricket Club)

Tim David (Hobart Hurricanes/Claremont-Nedlands Cricket Club)

Nathan Ellis (Hobart Hurricanes/ Lindisfarne Cricket Club)

Cameron Green (WA/Subiaco-Floreat Cricket Club)

Josh Hazlewood (NSW/St George Cricket Club)

Travis Head (Adelaide Strikers/Tea Tree Gully Cricket Club)

Josh Inglis (Perth Scorchers/Joondalup Cricket Club)

Glenn Maxwell (Melbourne Stars/Fitzroy Doncaster Cricket Club)

Mitchell Starc (Sydney Sixers/Manly Warringah Cricket Club)

Marcus Stoinis (Melbourne Stars/Subiaco Floreat Cricket Club)

Matthew Wade (Hobart Hurricanes/Clarence Cricket Club)

David Warner (Sydney Thunder/Randwick Petersham Cricket Club)

Adam Zampa (Melbourne Renegades/Sutherland Cricket Club)

Travelling reserves: Matthew Short ((Adelaide Strikers/Northcote Cricket Club), Jake Fraser-McGurk (Melbourne Renegades/West Torrens Cricket Club)

Matthew Short and Jake Fraser-McGurk will join the squad during the early rounds as traveling reserves. Players and staff will arrive in the West Indies in stages affording some who have been competing in the Indian Premier League some time at home before joining the squad.

Chair of Selectors George Bailey said: “Matt and Jake made compelling cases for initial selection with their respective performances for Australia last summer and, in Jake’s case, more recently in the IPL.

“As the tournament proceeds, the short turnaround between fixtures makes it challenging to get players in at short notice in the event of injury. Matt provides the squad with an all-round skillset option, while Jake provides further batting cover.

“Both players have exciting talents that can add to the squad if needed. If not, the experience will still be valuable in their respective development journeys at international level.”

A number of players remain on an extended reserves list for the tournament with the exception of leg spinner Tanveer Sangha who has aggravated a hip injury and is undergoing rehabilitation.

 

[BouncerGuy]

As per reports:

Australia is preparing for the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 with warm-up matches but faces challenges as key players like Pat Cummins, Travis Head, Mitchell Starc, Cameron Green, and Glenn Maxwell are involved in the IPL playoffs. These players will join the squad in Barbados.

Moreover, Mitchell Marsh is unlikely to bowl in practice matches due to a hamstring injury.

 

[BouncerGuy]

How Aussies are preparing for IPL-style shootouts

After the highest scoring IPL ever, Australia are considering how they can post monster totals if similar conditions prevail at the World Cup

Australia are bracing for the IPL's scoring explosion to creep into the T20 World Cup with selectors preparing to pack their side with power-hitters if matches descend into six-hitting shootouts.

While coach Andrew McDonald is anticipating bowlers to have more in their favour in the Caribbean than they have during a six-laden Indian Premier League, he acknowledges "anything is possible" in the right circumstances.

Cameron Green, preferred over Jake Fraser-McGurk in the 15-man squad due to his versatility, could bat as low as No.8 in an allrounder- and batter-heavy team if the Aussies deem a monster total will be needed to win.

"The recent trend of the IPL, you've got to take that into the equation," McDonald told cricket.com.au. "Is that trend going to be real and sustainable? Are you going to need to post 240-plus to win a game?

"If that is the case, there's no doubt that there would be a discussion around playing an extra batter to make sure you're capable of stretching totals out to 240-plus, which is what we've seen in the IPL."

That league is in the closing stages of the fastest-scoring season of any short-form men's league in history.

Its eye-popping run-rate of 9.57 after the end of the home-and-away campaign has left many wondering if it is a precursor to 200-plus scores becoming the norm in T20s.

That is even allowing for the effect of the IPL's impact player substitution rule, which essentially allows teams to play with 12 players, that will not be in play at the World Cup.

That the only other short-form tournaments to have ever registered run-rates above nine per over – last year's PSL and Hundred competitions – have also been played in the last 18 months only underlines the trend.

Playing just three specialist bowlers and stacking their team with allrounders like Glenn Maxwell, Mitch Marsh, Marcus Stoinis and Green would embolden Australia's top-order to attack from ball one.

But McDonald is wary of pre-tournament hype around huge totals.

"We're seeing over a period of time that when the pressure comes on in World Cups, the totals can be a little bit lower," he said.

"We've had that in 50-over cricket where people were talking about 400-plus (scores) being the new normal, and you get to World Cups and it feels as though things recalibrate under that extreme pressure.

"We've just got to work out what the trend is that we want to dictate as well. It's not about reacting to what others are doing.

"We've got the capabilities of playing eight batters, and if we feel like that potentially can be the best way of defeating an opponent on the surface that's in front of you, then yeah, we'll go down that path."

The numbers certainly back up the notion that scoring gets more difficult at major ICC events.

The highest run-rate at a T20 World Cup came at its inaugural tournament in 2007 in South Africa (7.92), with more recent editions in 2021 in the UAE (7.40) and 2022 in Australia (7.46) much slower affairs.

The last one in the Caribbean was similar (7.49 at the 2010 World T20), while numbers from recent Caribbean Premier League seasons suggest bowlers will be able to apply the brakes more easily in World Cup matches held on the islands.

"I think that it will slow down a little bit, but if you get a small ground with some good surfaces, anything's possible with the way batting units go about it," said McDonald.

"If they start to become slower and lower, and start to spin a little bit more, the totals will come down and there's going to be a different way of conjuring up the runs you need to win. We feel as though we've got that flexibility.

"If you look at the CPL … that's one of the lowest scoring tournaments domestically around the world, and that includes the West Indian players playing in that competition who are some of the best power hitters in the game."

The eight-batter line-up is only one of the strategies being prepared by the 2021 T20 world champions.

The inclusion of Ashton Agar in the 15-man squad, despite, like Green, having not played a T20I since the last World Cup, gives them the flexibility for spin to make up more than half their overs if he plays alongside both Adam Zampa and Maxwell.

That may be a consideration for their first two matches of the tournament, against Oman and Namibia, both being played in Barbados. Australia will then return there for the tournament final if they make it.

The Aussies' most recent games at the famed Kensington Oval (albeit in the 50-over format) were played on raging turners. The ground has been spin-friendly in more recent T20Is too.

The focus for Australia through the first round will be to take care of business against the lower-ranked sides (they also face Scotland in St Lucia). If they do that, their match against England will count for nothing given seedings for the Super Eights are pre-determined.

Should they make it all the way to the decider, Australia will have a gruelling run of five games in 10 days on five different islands.

"It definitely speeds up when you get through to the Super Eights," said McDonald.

"First and foremost, you've got to navigate through that first part of the tournament. We've seen some upsets (in the past) along the way.

"We'll be looking to implement what we feel as though will be the style of play that can win a World Cup. That'll be our goal to get everyone up and running in those games.

"There's no doubt that England will give us a good yardstick of where we're at, being one of the competition favourites.

"The interesting fact is also that none of the net run-rate or points (count) in that next phase, so it really is a case of just getting through that (group stage) – and then your tournament starts after that."

SOURCE: CRICKET.COM.AU

 

[FearlessRoar]

Ponting has his say on key Australian players following a mixed IPL

The Delhi Capitals coach kept a close eye on all the Australian players during the recent Indian Premier League.

Former Australia skipper and Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting gave his take on the IPL performance of some key Australian players with an eye on the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.

The IPL featured a number of regulars from the Australian Men’s T20 World Cup squad.

While the likes of Travis Head set the tournament on fire with his explosive batting, others like David Warner and Mitchell Marsh had an indifferent run for the majority of the tournament, while Mitchell Starc struggled for consistency early on before producing back-to-back Player of the Match performances in his last two appearances in Kolkata Knight Riders' title-winning run.

Ponting gave his view on the performances of key Australia players:

David Warner (168 runs @21)​

The long-serving member of the Australian team had an IPL to forget, scoring merely 168 runs at an average of 21 in an injury-riddled season for Ponting’s Delhi Capitals. Despite his recent returns, Ponting backed the player to come good in the T20 World Cup.

Ponting was dismayed by the fact that Warner lost his form after a good start.

“He actually started the tournament really well. His scoring rate was really good,” Ponting added. “At the start of the tournament, he was opening the batting for us with Mitchell Marsh, and that combination was working really well.”

However, the partnership broke after Marsh had to return home due to an injury, and Warner lost his touch, while also incurring a subsequent injury to his hand.

“He (Warner) didn't really hit scores, and then he got a nasty hit on his hand. Basically, had the worst bone bruising and his contusion on the back of his hand that he's ever seen.”

But Ponting didn’t have many concerns regarding the 37-year-old veteran.

“He's a feisty little competitor that once the World Cup comes around, he hits the Australian colours back on again.
“Then I've got no real concerns about him.”

Travis Head (567 runs @ 40.50)​

In contrast to Warner, his Men’s Cricket World Cup opening partner Travis Head was at his belligerent best for Sunrisers Hyderabad, scoring over 500 runs at a strike rate closer to 200.

Some of his knocks (such as 89* off 30 versus Lucknow Super Giants in the group stage of the IPL) saw his clean-striking ability at its destructive best. Ponting attributed this to a free head space.

“He's not worried about the negative of getting out. (In T20 Cricket) You've got to go out there and try in the first ball for six. If it comes off, it comes off. You're away, your team's away," Ponting noted.

Ponting added that the player changed his approach to the game over the last couple of years, and the result was for everyone to see.

“(Earlier) he was worried about what someone might have said or what the media wrote if he got out playing a certain shot, rather than just going out and backing himself and scoring runs. So for me, that's been the real change in him.”

Mitchell Starc (17 wickets @ 26.11)​

Kolkata Knight Riders’ Mitchell Starc has been expensive with the ball and leaked runs at an economy closer to 11, but the left-armer found his rhythm in the closing stages of the tournament as he collected consecutive Player of the Match efforts in his final two matches.

Starc was making a comeback to the IPL for the first time since 2015 and was purchased for a hefty 24.75 crores by Kolkata Knight Riders.

“The expectation that comes with the price tag sometimes it makes players push out a little bit harder and try to do more than they need to do.” Ponting said.

Starc endured some of his worst spells at Eden Gardens, the home of Knight Riders, at one stage he’d given away runs at an economy of 14.8 in three successive home games.

Ponting opined that this was due to different conditions at play in India, and believed the player could’ve greater impact in slightly different conditions during the T20 World Cup.

“You know, conditions where Mitch is bowling at Eden Gardens, the ball didn't really swing much there this year, and the ground is like, like it's a small ground and the outfield's like concrete," Ponting noted.

“And when you're bowling at Starc's pace, inside edges that just make their way through the field end up going for four.

“It's not the easiest place in the world to bowl fast, but, you know, if we go to the Caribbean where the wind's a little bit slower and the ball's not flying off the bat quite as hard, then Starc will have an impact.”

Mitchell Marsh (61 runs @ 15.25)​

Marsh, Australia’s leader at the T20 World Cup, had a brief spell at the IPL before rushing back home due to an injury. Though he scored merely 61 runs, his strike rate was an impressive 160.52.

“He still, obviously, he left us at Delhi as well four or five games into the season with a hamstring tendon injury that I'm not sure he's quite over just yet,” Ponting said while discussing Marsh.

Though Pat Cummins is present in the side, Marsh has been preferred as the T20I skipper by Australia selectors. Ponting believed that captaincy fit naturally with some players, and Marsh was one of them.

“But talking about (captaincy) he's a rookie, but captaincy sits really well with him," Ponting added.

“He's never going to be anyone that overthinks it too much.

“He'll take responsibility for what he needs to have tactically and I think, you know, one thing I know about Mitch is all the players love him.

“All the players respect him and will love playing under him.”

Ponting has his say on key Australian players following a mixed IPL

The Delhi Capitals coach kept a close eye on all the Australian players during the recent Indian Premier League.

www.icc-cricket.com

 

[FearlessRoar]

Australia captain provides injury update ahead of T20 World Cup

The Australia all-rounder is confident he has fully recovered from his hamstring issue.

Australia captain Mitch Marsh has declared himself fit and ready to go for the start of his side's ICC Men's T20 World Cup campaign.

The all-rounder injured his hamstring during the early stages of the Indian Premier League and has not played at any level since failing to trouble the scorers at the start of April for the Delhi Capitals against eventual champions Kolkata Knight Riders.

But with the start of the T20 World Cup less than a week away, Marsh looked in good touch when joining a group of his teammates at training in Trinidad on Sunday and will be fit to take on Oman in their tournament opener in Barbados on June 5.

"It's been progressively slow, but I'm finally getting there now and looking forward to getting stuck into the tournament," Marsh told Cricket Australia.

"Initially we thought it was a three-weeker, but with tendons, they can take a little bit longer and you've sort of got to go on feel.

“Once I was ruled out of the IPL, we've certainly taken our time to get right. And I feel lucky that I've had that bit of extra time, a little bit of time at home to refresh."

While Marsh is likely to take part in Australia's warm-up fixture against Namibia on Tuesday, the Australia captain will play purely as a batter and won't make a return to bowling for some time yet.

"Probably still a little while off. I'll start bowling hopefully soon. Get through these practice games as a batter and then we'll ramp it up,” Marsh noted.

"But it's one of the beauties of being captain now, I don't have to bowl myself.

"We're lucky that we've got so many options with ball and so much talent, Stoin (Marcus Stoinis) and Greenie (Cameron Green), and we've got a lot of options. So, all our planning, it allows me to be really clear on that. I'll bowl when I need to bowl, but outside that, it's always team first."

Just who joins Marsh in Australia's XI for their warm-up fixture against Namibia in Trinidad on Tuesday remains to be seen, with a host of their stars not arriving in the West Indies until later in the week after they participated in Sunday's Indian Premier League final.

Opener Travis Head and fast bowlers Pat Cummins and Mitch Starc all featured in that IPL title decider and will head home to Australia for some rest prior to joining up with their teammates in the Caribbean, while travelling reserves Jake Fraser-McGurk and Matt Short are also yet to arrive.

"Guys have been at the IPL and they have been playing a lot of cricket, so we've prioritised giving them a couple of days at home to see their family, refresh and play the long game for this tournament," Marsh said.

"We're going to be undermanned a little bit (against Namibia), but it is a practice game. And the guys that need to play will play as much as they can and we'll figure it out from there."

Australia squad: Mitchell Marsh (c), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa. Travelling Reserves: Jake Fraser-McGurk, Matt Short

Australia captain provides injury update ahead of T20 World Cup

The Australia all-rounder is confident he has fully recovered from his hamstring issue.

www.icc-cricket.com

 

[FearlessRoar]

Australia has a chance to achieve a historic feat by becoming the first team to possess all three of cricket's global titles at the same time

 

[mominsaigol]

Australia has a chance to achieve a historic feat by becoming the first team to possess all three of cricket's global titles at the same time

The biggest thorn I see in Australia atm is Marsh himself. Not as a captain but as a no 3 batter.

Warner isn't an issue. Even if he is, fraser will come in.

 

[FearlessRoar]

Marsh on track for World Cup opener, but won't bowl​

Mitch Marsh will not step up to the bowling crease in his first World Cup match as captain but has nonetheless been declared fit to play in Australia's tournament opener next week.

Marsh missed out with the bat in both the Aussies' warm-up matches in Trinidad, following his 18 off 14 balls against Namibia with 4 off 4 against West Indies on Friday morning (AEST), leaving him short on time at the crease heading into the Aussies' clash with Oman in Barbados on Wednesday (Thursday morning AEST).

The allrounder did not field for the full bowling innings in either practice match as he recovers from a hamstring injury that cut short his Indian Premier League, leaving deputy Matthew Wade to call the shots in the field.

But while a timeline on Marsh's return to bowling is unclear, coach Andrew McDonald insisted the recently-appointed T20I captain would be right for the Oman contest at the famed Kensington Oval.

"For Mitch, (the warm-up games) was about ticking off where his body was at," McDonald told cricket.com.au.

"He fielded more overs tonight, he was able to move more freely, so he's building a little bit of confidence there. It looks as though he's all set for the first game.

"The second part is just when the bowling comes back online … it won't be the first game."

Marsh's slow recovery is the main concern for an otherwise fit 15-man squad that will assemble for the first time in Barbados this weekend.

Marcus Stoinis arrived in Trinidad on Wednesday but did not play against West Indies when he otherwise might have because his cricket gear was lost in transit on his flight to the Caribbean.

Pat Cummins, Travis Head, Mitchell Starc, Glenn Maxwell and Cameron Green missed the warm-up fixtures after playing in the IPL finals and will all link up with the squad in Barbados.

The bulk of the squad have won both ODI and T20 World Cups before and Australia have prioritised time at home for their IPL players over the practice games.

"It was by design, in terms of when we were getting people back after the IPL; we were well aware we weren't going to get the squad together until the first of next month," said McDonald.

"We've got some things in place where we'll bring the group together, we'll work through our plans leading into Oman and there's a bit of space between that game and (playing) England.

"We feel as though we have plenty of time to bring that group together. It's a familiar group, they've played a lot together. If they hadn't played a lot together then the prep might have looked different.

"We feel comfortable though as they know how to play with each other. It will just be finalising the XIs for the games, and the balances that we want. We've got plenty of options."

The Australians were hardly panicking after coughing up a mammoth 4-257 against the power-packed West Indies, who appear one of the standout teams in a tournament they are co-hosting.

Given the lack of alternative bowling options, Australia were forced into sending down 12 overs of spin on a pitch taking little turn and in conditions so slippery they had to change balls four times.

The Aussies also trialled several tactics – Ashton Agar bowled a host of arm balls in the Powerplay, while Adam Zampa bowled a lot of wide deliveries – they would not otherwise have necessarily employed in a match for points.

"To concede 260-odd runs in a T20 game is not ideal," said McDonald.

"But we were working through some plans, we were working through what we needed to get out of the game, so there was a little bit of … working on certain deliveries and certain things that can unfold.

"I'm sure the West Indies were the same as well, I'm sure they were working on things that weren't associated with the opponent they were playing."

Marsh on track for World Cup opener, but won't bowl | cricket.com.au

Coach Andrew McDonald confirms skipper Mitch Marsh as a certain starter and details Australia's…

www.cricket.com.au

 

[BouncerGuy]

With afghainstan's win over Bangladesh in a nail-bitter, Australia is officially out of this world cup race.

That defeat against Afghainistan costed them in the end.

 

[hoshiarpurexpress]

For the first time I have seen Australia make an emotional selection.. of Warner. Fraser should have been selected.
That came back to haunt them.

 

[mominsaigol]

For the first time I have seen Australia make an emotional selection.. of Warner. Fraser should have been selected.
That came back to haunt them.

They wanted to give Warner a send off.

My issue isn't that they selected Warner over fraser.

My issue is selecting wade over fraser.

Have fraser be your frontline wicket keeper and keep your options open incase Warner doesn't kick off

 

[Rana]

They wanted to give Warner a send off.

My issue isn't that they selected Warner over fraser.

My issue is selecting wade over fraser.

Have fraser be your frontline wicket keeper and keep your options open incase Warner doesn't kick off

They selected Wade over Inglis. That was a big mistake.

Tim David has been a big let down for 2 tournaments now. It’s like Barcelona signing Ibrahimovic, it just didn’t transpire for Barca the way they would have liked. Similarly, TD hasn’t delivered or upheld Australian white ball supremacy in T20 cricket the way Australia wanted through him.

 

[RidiculousMan]

For the first time I have seen Australia make an emotional selection.. of Warner. Fraser should have been selected.
That came back to haunt them.

This is why they win World Cups regularly. They don't jump the hype train like the rest of the world. They stick to their plans.

Persisting with Warner over Fraser was the right move.

Fraser has a long future ahead (hopefully) and Australia will make sure he is ready for the next big event whenever that maybe.

They don't throw a youngsters on hype alone like Saim. They make them ready and they have proper plans in place for everyone.

 

[Sir Alex]

This is why they win World Cups regularly. They don't jump the hype train like the rest of the world. They stick to their plans.

Persisting with Warner over Fraser was the right move.

Fraser has a long future ahead (hopefully) and Australia will make sure he is ready for the next big event whenever that maybe.

They don't throw a youngsters on hype alone like Saim. They make them ready and they have proper plans in place for everyone.

They have exited without seeing semis now twice in a row.

 

[RidiculousMan]

They have exited without seeing semis now twice in a row.

They have won an ICC T20 and ICC CWC 50 overs trophy more recently than India and Pakistan.

They trust in their process don't rush over to results. That's why their process also gets them the most results

 

[Sir Alex]

They have won an ICC T20 and ICC CWC 50 overs trophy more recently than India and Pakistan.

They trust in their process don't rush over to results. That's why their process also gets them the most results

I am just saying Aus are not like turn up and grab trophy.

Of course they have been always an example for professionally run cricketing systems. Top tier in fact.