Mitch Marsh admits senior heads will have decisions to make on their international futures after Australia’s World Cup exit, but is not expecting large-scale turnover with the allrounder set to stay on as the men’s side’s T20 captain.
David Warner will leave the biggest hole in an Aussie side that failed to make the finals of the ICC’s flagship T20 event for a second consecutive tournament after Marsh’s men were eliminated following Super Eight defeats to India and Afghanistan this week.
The Australians had not known their fate until the early hours of Tuesday morning (Caribbean time) meaning there was little scope to toast Warner’s contributions after their defeat to India earlier on Monday.
Afghanistan’s narrow win over Bangladesh confirmed the opener had in fact played his final international match. The same may be true of Matthew Wade, who had previously flagged this tournament as a possible international swansong.
“Everyone will disperse today but it was certainly a chance to catch up last night. It wasn’t too much reflecting but more of a night of hope that we could still continue on,” Marsh said on Tuesday.
“But we got together this morning and we reflected as a team, we spoke to Davey and gave him a bit of a send-off. He’s a very special player and he’ll be missed in our group.”
Warner underlined his value to the Australian side in his final tournament, hitting match-winning half-centuries against Bangladesh and Oman. But his most telling contribution came against England in Barbados where he slammed four sixes in a Powerplay blitz with Travis Head.
The 37-year-old bows out as his country’s leading men’s T20I run scorer. His 3277 runs came at 33.43, an average bettered only by Aaron Finch (34.28) among Australians to have score at least 750 runs.
Jake Fraser-McGurk shapes a logical replacement at the top of the order having shadowed the World Cup squad in the Caribbean. Warner posted a photo on social media of the pair drinking by the pool with the caption “all yours now champion”.
Australia’s other travelling reserve, Matthew Short, will also be in the frame having dominated the KFC BBL in recent seasons, while Cameron Green looks primed to seize a spot in the T20 team.
The same can be said of Josh Inglis, who looks set to get a solid run at making the T20 wicketkeeping spot his own having already locked down the ODI spot when he helped Australia to last year’s 50-over title in India.
There will be opportunities for others to stake their claims given the ageing demographic of the current Australian side, with just two of the 13 players used at this World Cup aged under 30 – Tim David (28) and Nathan Ellis (29).
Ellis shapes as one of Australia’s most important short-form players with the big three pace brigade of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins certain to need more rest and rotation as they creep into their mid-thirties.
Jhye Richardson, Spencer Johnson and Xavier Bartlett are the other fast bowlers selectors have been keeping tabs on, while spinners Tanveer Sangha and Matthew Kuhnemann are likely to see opportunities too.
It leaves Australia needing to work out how much of the side needs to be regenerated, with valid questions shaping over whether all of Glenn Maxwell (who will be 37 for the T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka in early 2026), Marcus Stoinis (36 by that time), Mitchell Starc (36) and Josh Hazlewood (35) can conceivably feature at that event.
“I think that’s something that we’ll speak about in the coming months as a group,” said Marsh, who will be 34 when that tournament rolls around.
“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.
“In this squad alone we had Inglis, Fraser-McGurk, Short, Green, a lot of guys who will play a lot of cricket for Australia over the next period of time.
“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 work ethic. They’re all at the start of their journey playing cricket for Australia.
“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.
“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.”
Australia have an ODI Champions Trophy campaign before then, with eight one-dayers to be played before a squad needs to be named for the revived ICC event set to be held in Pakistan early next year.
They also have 23 international T20 matches pencilled in before the 2026 T20 World Cup, not to mention two BBL campaigns and an IPL for prospects to push their cases.
Australia’s next international engagement is a limited-overs tour of Scotland and England in September that will see them play six T20Is and five one-dayers, with Marsh set to lead the T20 side.
Whether Cummins fulfils his 50-over captaincy duties on the back of this World Cup, his upcoming stint in the USA’s Major League Cricket and then having a five-Test home series against India on the horizon will be a further discussion point for selectors.
“It was a huge honour to captain us at this World Cup and I certainly would have liked to go the whole way,” said Marsh, whose appointment as the permanent T20I skipper was ratified by the Cricket Australia Board earlier this year.
“But I don’t necessarily want to think too far ahead with all that sort of stuff. We’ll reflect on it as a leadership group and then move forward from there.”
Men’s T20 World Cup finals
27 June: Semi-final 1, South Africa v Afghanistan, Brian Lara Academy, Trinidad, 10.30am AEST
28 June: Semi-final 2, India v England, Providence Stadium, Guyana, 12.30am AEST
30 June: Final, Kensington Oval, Barbados, 12.30am AEST
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