Many of Australia’s senior players will be weighing up their international futures after failing to qualify for the T20 World Cup semi-finals this week, but Josh Hazlewood doubts there will be any “drastic” changes to the team.
Mitchell Marsh’s men crashed out of the tournament after suffering consecutive losses to Afghanistan and India in the Caribbean, where the team’s fielding and batting came under heavy scrutiny.
There’s a short turnaround before the next T20 World Cup campaign, scheduled for February 2026 in India and Sri Lanka, but several members of Australia’s squad won’t feature in the next edition of the tournament.
Veteran opener David Warner bid farewell to international cricket this week, ending a 15-year career that featured 18,995 runs and three World Cup triumphs.
However, Warner isn’t the only member of Australia’s T20 squad that will need to make a decision on their future in the game’s shortest format.
Only one player from the starting XI that lost to India in Gros Islet on Tuesday was aged under 30 – Tim David – while Marsh predicted a regeneration of the T20 side was on the cards.
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Warner falls cheaply in last Aus match? | 00:33
“I think that’s something that we’ll speak about in the coming months as a group,” Marsh told reporters at the end of Australia’s campaign.
“We’ve got a core group that is really experienced and amazing cricketers, and we’ve also got a lot of young guys who are coming through that we’ll see get opportunities.
“We’ll lose Davey and there’s a number of experienced guys that will have to make decisions, but the core group will hopefully stay together for the coming months.
“The great thing when you get young guys in and around the squad is they provide you with a lot of energy. Their willingness to learn and their work ethic.
“They’re all at the start of their journey playing cricket for Australia, and I reflect on my time as a young kid and the importance of having really solid leaders and experienced players around you to help you develop at this level is really important.
“I think as an Australian cricket team we’ve always got that balance right and it’s an important responsibility for the senior players in our group moving forward to guide these guys and get them as much game time as we can in international cricket.”
‘That’s a soda!’- Marsh drops a SITTER | 00:37
WHO’S IN DANGER?
Australia has 23 T20Is scheduled until the 2026 T20 World Cup in the subcontinent, and changes seem unavoidable.
Wicketkeeper Matthew Wade, who indicated he would retire after the 2022 tournament on home soil, had an underwhelming campaign in the West Indies, missing a stumping chance during last weekend’s loss to Afghanistan and contributing 27 runs across four innings.
Glenn Maxwell will be 37 when the next T20 World Cup rolls around, while all-rounder Marcus Stoinis, despite being Australia’s best player in the Caribbean this month, has a couple of young talent breathing down his neck.
Australia’s world-class fast bowling trio may consider following in the footsteps of Ashes rival James Anderson and Stuart Broad by sacrificing white-ball commitments to extend their Test careers. Mitchell Starc, who was far from his best in the West Indies this month, will be 36 in two years, while Josh Hazlewood will be 35.
Despite having a woeful campaign with the bat, captain Mitchell Marsh is not in danger of losing his spot in Australia’s T20 side. However, considering his lengthy history of injuries, the West Australian all-rounder may need to decide how long he can continue juggling the three formats.
Rohit SMASHES Starc for 4 6s in one over | 01:13
WHO’S NEXT IN LINE?
Following Australia’s T20 World Cup exit, Warner shared a picture of himself enjoying a drink alongside rising star Jake Fraser-McGurk to Instagram, captioning the post: “All yours now champion”.
Fraser-McGurk, named as a travelling reverse for this month’s T20 World Cup, is the leading candidate to replace Warner at the top of the order following his explosive Indian Premier League campaign with the Delhi Capitals. The young Victorian, who was the Melbourne Renegades’ leading run-scorer during last summer’s Big Bash League, also turned heads during his maiden ODI series earlier this year, slapping 51 runs from 23 deliveries against the West Indies.
Wicketkeeper Josh Inglis, who replaced Alex Carey as Australia’s first-choice ODI gloveman last year, is more than capable of taking over from Wade, who will be 38 when the 2026 T20 World Cup gets underway. The West Australian smacked a century during last year’s T20 tour of India, while national selectors have often praised his versatility with the bat.
Adelaide Strikers opener Matt Short has been the leading run-scorer across the past two BBL tournaments with 999 runs at 45.41, but there currently isn’t room for him in the top three of Australia’s T20 side. Opener Travis Head recently leapfrogged Indian superstar Suryakumar Yadav to become the No. 1 batter on the men’s T20I rankings, while Fraser-McGurk’s inclusion feels like an inevitability.
Meanwhile, West Australian all-rounders Cameron Green and Aaron Hardie are future superstars of the game in all three formats.
Left-armed quick Spencer Johnson looms as Starc’s like-for-like replacement – the South Australian has been a revelation since making his Big Bash debut for the Brisbane Heat in 2023, helping the Queensland-based franchise win its second BBL title earlier this year.
Xavier Bartlett, Jhye Richardson, Lance Morris and Nathan Ellis, who each received national contracts this year, are patiently waiting in the wings for their opportunity, but Hazlewood poured cold water over any speculation about sweeping changes in the national T20 side.
“They come around pretty quick, the T20 World Cups, every two years,” Hazlewood told reporters in the Caribbean.
“There might be a couple of changes, but a lot of the guys still play in the franchise cricket if they’re not playing for Australia, so they’re available to be picked.
“There’s some class players in our 15, and we’ve got a couple on the bench as well. So, you’d think it’d be an actual slow change. I don’t think there’d be anything drastic.”
Australia’s next white-ball assignment is September’s tour of the United Kingdom, which includes three T20s against Scotland along with three T20s and five ODIs against England.