Marsh’s bowling final piece of T20 defence

Scott Bailey | October 21, 2022

Australia have received a major boost on the eve of their Twenty20 World Cup defence with Mitch Marsh firming to be able to bowl in their tournament opener against New Zealand.

Marsh has not bowled since injuring his ankle against Zimbabwe in August, having played as a batter only in the lead up to the World Cup.

Australia had initially thought Marsh may not be able to bowl until against Sri Lanka in Perth on Tuesday at the earliest.

However the allrounder got through a lengthy net session on Thursday, with captain Aaron Finch declaring Australia were now hopeful he would be able to bowl at the SCG on Saturday night.

“He had a really good solid bowl yesterday and by all reports he pulled up really well,” Finch said.

“So we’re hopeful to (have him available).”

Marsh’s fitness at the bowling crease would represent the final piece of the puzzle for Australia after a chaotic two months leading into the tournament.

Marsh, Kane Richardson, Marcus Stoinis and Ashton Agar have all had to overcome injuries in the build up, while Finch’s form and future have been repeatedly questioned.

Australia were also handed a late headache with Josh Inglis’s bizarre golf injury on Wednesday, prompting Cameron Green to be added to the extended squad over another back-up wicketkeeper.

In that instance, Australian officials believe there is a only “0.5 per cent” chance of Matthew Wade being injured in a match or in the warm-up, which would leave David Warner as gloveman.

However, the hosts have somehow managed to arrive at Saturday with a largely settled line-up, with not even Sydney’s expected rain likely to create the need for any late changes.

“Probably it’s just more shuffling the batting order (if rain forces a shorter game),” Finch said.

“We have some power all through our order. You can probably map out how an opposition is going to bowl or use their resources a bit more.

“So you can try and get the match ups in your favour as much as you can. You plan for all scenarios. You have to be flexible.

“The thing about rain-affected games is how is it affected? If it’s two overs, it doesn’t make much difference.

“If it’s a five-over games, it makes a huge difference.”

“But most times you would stick with your 11 that you feel is most suited to the conditions and that opposition.”

Finch meanwhile is unconcerned about Australia’s winning record heading into the tournament, with three losses and a draw in their last four games.

And while he did concede Australia had let matches slip at the death recently, he was adamant his big-hitting-laden middle and lower-order could ice matches when it mattered.

“I have huge amount of confidence in our No.4, 5, 6, 7 to be able to do that role,” he said.

“We saw the importance of playing seven batters last World Cup and having Wadey, a seriously good batsman at No.7.

“There’s not too many bases we haven’t ticked off.”

LIKELY AUSTRALIAN TEAM: Aaron Finch (capt), David Warner, Mitch Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, Matthew Wade, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood.