Australia Squad 2024: After being ignored in the provisional squad, Australia have included talented batter Jake Fraser-McGurk and allrounder Matthew Short as two travelling reserves for the T20 World Cup 2024.
His exclusion from the initial squad triggered debates among cricket pundits who batted for his inclusion in the Australia squad. Ahead of the May 25 deadline, Australia made no changes to the initial squad and the only exception being the inclusion of two travelling reserves in Fraser-McGurk and short.
Fraser-McGurk's brilliant show at the IPL, where he was called in as a replacement by Delhi Capitals, scored 330 runs at a strike-rate of 234.04. His stint in IPL 2024 also included two fluent half-centuries.
"There's no doubt that he did turn our heads and he was a huge discussion when it come to the final 15," head coach Andrew McDonald told SEN radio.
"He was running hot and there's no doubt he will run hot into the future. There's no doubt what he did in the IPL, he lit it up, he's an extraordinary talent and he's going to give fans much delight across the journey. In discussing the 15-man squad, we needed to cover all bases in the way we wanted to play and there was a lot of building that went into that over a period of time," he added.
Australia have dropped veteran Steven Smith from the T20 World Cup 2024 squad, which will be led by Mitchell Marsh. The selectors have included left-arm spinner Ashton Agar and allrounder Cameron Green in the squad.
With Marsh being designated Australia's leader in the T20 format, he had in the past one year led Australia in three T20I series. The pace attack will be led by Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc, however, the inclusion of Nathan Ellis gives Australia a fourth option. Matthew Wade would be Australia's first-choice wicketkeeper with Josh Inglis being picked as backup.
Fraser-McGurk is yet to make his T20I debut after having featured in two ODIs. However, Smith's omission from Australia squad for T20 World Cup 2024 doesn't come as a surprise because he had dropped out from the pecking order since the 2022 T20 World Cup. He was given a chance in the series against India and New Zealand recently, but failed to prove his worth in the shortest format.
The likely and proven top three would be David Warner, Travis Head and Marsh, who have been consistent for Australia since the ODI World Cup. The middle-order more or less picks itself in the form of Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Tim David and Wade. Green and Inglis give Australia the flexibility when it comes to injury management and Inglis has proven in the past his ability to bat as a floater at any spot. Matthew Short would consider himself unlucky to miss out on a spot despite good show in two BBL seasons and in a few T20I series in the last 12 months.
Chairman of selectors George Bailey explained why Green and Agar were considered in the 15 ahead of the others for the T20 World Cup Australia squad.
"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," Bailey said."
"The batting options available allow a tailored approach to each venue and opponent."
"Steve Smith, Matt Short, Jason Behrendorff, Aaron Hardie, Spencer Johnson and Xavier Bartlett were all part of long conversations, along with several others."
"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."
Marsh said he was honoured to be given the chance to lead the side in a World Cup.
"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," Marsh said.
"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."
"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."
T20 World Cup 2024 Australia squad:
Mitchell Marsh (c), 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.
Travelling reserves: Jake Fraser-McGurk, Matthew Short.
