Australia announced their 15 member squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup which will be held in the USA and West Indies. Mitchell Marsh will be the leader of this team.
One of the surprising moves was the exclusion of Steve Smith. He is one of the greatest batsmen in all the three formats and carries a huge experience also. On the other hand, of the successful and big hitter in the IPL, Jake Fraser-McGurk, also misses out from the 15 members. His strike rate is 233.33 in 2024 IPL till now, where he has hit 3 half-centuries out of 6 matches.
Selection chairman 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.”
Ashton Agar will play T20 after more than 1 and a half years. He last played for the team in 2022. To this Bailey said, “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.”
Earlier New Zealand, South Africa, England and India revealed their 15 members for the ICC event.
Introducing our 15-player squad for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup to head to the West Indies – led by our new full-time T20 skipper, Mitch Marsh 👊
— Cricket Australia (@CricketAus) May 1, 2024
Congratulations to those selected 👏#T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/vETFIGPQL6
New captain Marsh said on being chosen for this role,
“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.”
Australia World Cup squad:
Mitchell Marsh ©, Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade (wk), David Warner, Adam Zampa.