Why Sean Abbott won’t give up on T20 World Cup hopes
Jasper Bruce |
Sean Abbott has not given up hope of playing in Australia’s Twenty20 World Cup title push, steeled by a phone call with chief selector George Bailey.
And after the summer he’s had, the right-arm paceman knows just how easily fortunes can change at the last minute.
Abbott was a surprise omission from Australia’s 15-player squad for the World Cup to be played from February 7 across Sri Lanka and India.
Xavier Bartlett and Nathan Ellis beat the Sydney Sixers gun for selection as frontline pace options next to three-format stars Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood.
Abbott featured in Australia’s most recent T20I series against India in November, days before injuring his hamstring playing Sheffield Shield.
That meant he was unavailable for what was supposed to be his first Ashes series.
Now he’s recovered, Abbott knows the shoe could soon be on the other foot as injury clouds linger over Hazlewood (hamstring, achilles tendon) and Cummins (back) ahead of Australia’s World Cup opener on February 11.
“George (Bailey) rang me and his messaging was basically, ‘Be ready, in case there are some moving parts’,” Abbott told AAP.
“Guys have got to get back and get fit. I’m ready to go, I feel like I’m bowling pretty well at the minute.
“A few cobwebs still to get out, maybe pick up a couple of k’s of air speed a little bit, but I’m ready to go. The thing I’ve learned at this level over the last however many years is things can happen last minute.
“Be ready, you never know what happens.”
That lesson was reiterated to Abbott this summer after he was injured after being picked in the squad for the Ashes series opener.
Australia played six different frontline quicks throughout a series featuring pace-friendly conditions and injuries to Hazlewood and Cummins.
Notably, Brendan Doggett earned a Test debut, injury-stricken Jhye Richardson returned to the XI after four years and Michael Neser played three Tests, having missing selection in the squad for the series opener.
Abbott knows how close he came.
“It can be a bit toxic saying, ‘It should have been me’,” Abbott said.
“I was only picked in the squad for the first game so I won’t assume selection for any of the rest of it, but really tough to not put my hand up, just to make the selectors make a decision.”
Abbott was happy for the successes of the men who earned chances in his place; Neser eventually took 15 wickets at 19.93 in his first Tests since 2022.
Abbott also knows he’d had a lucky run with injuries compared to Richardson, who spent most of 2025 nursing the latest in a series of shoulder issues.
“You’ve just got to roll with the punches sometimes. It sucked being injured and getting injured, especially with the timing,” he said.
“But I’ve been up for a long time, I hadn’t been injured for a very long time. I suppose you could say something was bound to happen at some stage and unfortunately it was right before being involved in my first Ashes series.
“The guys that came in for Hoff (Hazlewood) and Cummo did a fantastic job.”
AAP
