SYDNEY (AP) — Veteran allrounder Mitchell Marsh is in line to captain Australia for the first time because of an injury to Pat Cummins for a limited-overs tour to South Africa ahead of the Cricket World Cup. Cricket Australia on Monday announced its squads for three Twenty20 internationals and five one-day internationals against the Proteas commencing Aug. 30.
Test players Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Cameron Green and David Warner have been rested for the T20 matches but will all return for the ODI section of the tour. Marnus Labuschagne has missed selection in either squad, effectively ruling him out of the World Cup in India starting in October.
Marsh has been picked to lead the T20 team and could retain the captaincy role for the ODIs if Cummins is unable to recover from the wrist injury he sustained during the final Ashes test in England.
“Pat injured his left wrist diving in the field on the first day at The Oval,” chief selector George Bailey said in a statement. "He has an undisplaced fracture of his left radius which requires six weeks rehabilitation.
“We expect him to join the squad during the South African ODI Series. We view a period of enforced rest for Pat as a positive ahead of this important World Cup campaign."
Allrounder Aaron Hardie, Spencer Johnson and Matt Short were all selected for their first international tours, while Marsh will lead a senior Australia team for the first time.
“Mitch has long been a senior player within the white ball structure, with this an opportunity for him to add to his leadership skills at international level," Bailey said. “We look forward to him taking that step in South Africa.”
Cricket Australia said its provisional World Cup squad of 15 players will be announced in early September, with the squad to be finalized before Sept. 28.
Australia will also play a three-game ODI series against India in late September before starting its World Cup campaign on Oct. 8 against India.
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Squads:
T20s: Mitchell Marsh (captain), Sean Abbott, Jason Behrendorff, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Aaron Hardie, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Glenn Maxwell, Matt Short, Steve Smith, Marcus Stoinis.
ODIs: Pat Cummins (captain), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa.
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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
