Red-hot Marsh in line to open at World Cup

A red-hot Mitch Marsh could take on the new ball during the upcoming ODI series against South Africa as Australia shift into all-out preparation mode for the World Cup.

Marsh, player of the series in the T20I whitewash of South Africa, will continue as white-ball captain in the absence of the injured Pat Cummins but will be joined by a host of returning frontline stars for the five-game ODI series beginning in Bloemfontein on Thursday.

That is expected to include Adam Zampa after a neck injury sidelined the leg-spinner from the final T20I on Sunday, a move described as "precautionary" with the Aussies' priority now firmly shifting to the 50-over game.

South Africa were without the likes of Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje and Quinton de Kock in the T20 series that proved something of a developmental opportunity for both teams, who fielded a combined eight debutants across the three games.

The ensuing one-day campaign holds far more relevance due to the looming World Cup, with Australia's squad to be bolstered by the return of the likes of David Warner, Josh Hazlewood and Alex Carey.

Marsh's strong batting form, which has carried on from his Ashes recall and into his captaincy debut, stretches back to a three-game ODI series in India in March when he made the most of a promotion to open by scoring 81, 66no and 47.

An injury to Warner had opened the door for the opportunity but even when the veteran returned for the final match, Marsh remained at the top of the order with Warner slotting into the middle.

Travis Head was Marsh's opening partner for that series and he played a timely hand of his own on Sunday evening, spearheading Australia's five-wicket third T20I win by scoring 91 off 48.

"There's lots of options for us moving forward (for) opening the batting," fill-in T20I coach Michael di Venuto, who will hand the reins back to Andrew McDonald for the one-dayers, said of the 50-over opening position.

"You look at the World Cup – David Warner comes back into the mix, Mitch Marsh, Travis Head, they've all got good form recently, they can all put a case forward to open the batting at the World Cup.

"Tonight Trav was really good, he stood a lot stiller and reacted the ball really well to the ball. He can hit all around the ground."

Zampa, who will be one of the side's most important players for the 50-over showpiece tournament in India, is expected to be back on the park after missing the first T20I due to illness before suffering a further setback in the second that ruled him out of the third.

"He just did his neck through the warm-up (before the second T20I), he thought he could get through the game," di Venuto said of Zampa, whose replacement Tanveer Sangha took five wickets in his first two international matches.

"It affected him during that second game, so there was no point risking a world-class performer in game three here. It also gave us another opportunity to give Tanveer another game of international cricket so it's great to see him on that stage again performing well.

"Zamps is a world-class spinner, the number one for us. For him to get his neck right and ready (is important) and he'll be playing in the some of the one-dayers coming up."

Cummins will lead Australia at the World Cup but his involvement in any part of the South Africa series is under a cloud due to a wrist injury, despite being named for the ODIs.

Marsh, who recorded both an average and a strike-rate of 186 across the three T20s, had his work as captain cut out for him in the final T20I as debutant Donovan Ferreira almost singlehandedly lifted the Proteas from 6-122 to set Australia a challenging 191 to win.

"Mitch is a natural leader and has been for us for a long time. Now we've got the 'C' next to his name, so he's got a bit more responsibility out on the field," said di Venuto.

"He's been batting like that for the last couple of years, he's playing beautifully in short-form cricket. We saw him transfer that form into Test cricket during the Ashes, he's full of confidence in his own game and has been for a period of time.

"Today he was a little bit under pressure when we were out in the field, we certainly weren't as polished with the ball and in the field as what we had been in the first two games.

"So that made a little bit more stressful out in the field for him. But it was a total that we chased down really well."

2023 Qantas ODIs v South Africa

September 7: First ODI, Bloemfontein (D/N), 9pm AEST

September 9: Second ODI, Bloemfontein (D/N), 9pm AEST

September 12: Third ODI, Potchefstroom (D/N), 9pm AEST

September 15: Fourth ODI, Centurion (D/N), 9pm AEST

September 17: Fifth ODI, Johannesburg, 6pm AEST

Australia ODI squad: Mitchell Marsh (c), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Marnus Labuschagne, Tanveer Sangha, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa

South Africa ODI squad: Temba Bavuma (c), Dewald Brevis, Gerald Coetzee, Quinton de Kock, Brjor Fortuin, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Sisanda Magala, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi, Wayne Parnell, Kagiso Rabada, Tristan Stubbs, Rassie van der Dussen