Mitchell Marsh admits he does not intend to bowl any time soon

Australia’s T20I captain, Mitchell Marsh, hasn’t bowled in a competitive match since tearing his hamstring during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. 

It’s been more than five months, and with the number of all-rounder Australia have in their T20I set-up, it’s highly unlikely that the 32-year-old will roll his arm over in the three-match T20I series in England, starting on September 11 (Wednesday).

In the squad Australia have picked for the T20I series against England, Jake Fraser-McGurk is the only player who neither keeps wickets nor bowls. The likes of Tim David, Travis Head, Matthew Short and Cooper Connolly can all bowl spin, while Marcus Stoinis, Aaron Hardie and Cameron Green are all genuine fast-bowling all-rounders.

"I'm sort of just building. I don't tend to bowl myself too much, is the honest answer, and we're lucky that we've got plenty of bowling options within our team, so we'll see how we go… my bowling's on line: whether or not I bowl, we'll wait and see. We've got heaps of options. I'm always building something,” said Marsh.

Australia did not make it past the Super 8s stage at the T20 World Cup, and since then have managed to whitewash Scotland 3-0 in the T20I series to start their UK tour. "It feels like a lifetime ago now, that T20 World Cup," Marsh said.

"It was just disappointment: we went there with the hope of winning it, like every other team did, and unfortunately, we didn't play our best cricket at the right time. In tournament play, that's what you rely on…there's a lot of cricket to be played between now and the next World Cup [in 2026] but hopefully I'm there."

Australia dropped a lot of catches in the World Cup, and it was one of the major reasons why they lost to Afghanistan and India in the Super 8s. "We've got a few things that we need to work through, but clearly the key area for us that was disappointing was our fielding… that makes it really difficult for the captain and the team to function,” head coach Andrew McDonald told SEN radio.

"There was some discussion around Mitch Marsh and his captaincy, but if creating opportunities for the team with your bowling changes and your field positions is the way that we're going to critique a captain, I thought he did a fantastic job. We just weren't able to execute in those moments, and that really played out in the Afghanistan game."

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