Australian allrounder flying home to Perth ahead of England clash, with no timeline set for his return
Marsh leaves World Cup camp for personal reasons
Australia have been hit by the loss of another key allrounder after announcing Mitch Marsh flew home on Wednesday for personal reasons and will be out of the World Cup indefinitely.
After Glenn Maxwell was ruled out of Saturday's clash with England due to a concussion suffered from falling off the back of a golf cart, the Aussies are now scrambling having also lost Marsh to unforeseen circumstances.
It was unclear how long the 32-year-old would be unavailable for and whether a replacement squad player would be required. "A timeline on his return to the squad is to be confirmed," read a Cricket Australia release.
The loss of Marsh and Maxwell is a curveball for an Australian team that has found its groove, with four consecutive wins following back-to-back defeats to begin their tournament.
With two allrounders from their most recent match now out of calculations, Marcus Stoinis looks certain to face England after training strongly on Wednesday evening under lights at Narendra Modi Stadium.
Cameron Green would be the other logical inclusion, with Travis Head set to take on a greater role with the ball to make up Maxwell's spin overs.
Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne seem likely to return to more familiar positions at three and four with Marsh out.
The next decision for Australia over the coming days will be whether Marsh needs to be replaced in their 15-man squad. If they did that, the 32-year-old could not return for the rest of the tournament unless there was another injury.
Leg-spinner Tanveer Sangha is Australia’s only current travelling reserve but he has only seemed likely to play if Adam Zampa were to succumb to one of his several fitness concerns.
Recent debutant Matt Short was also with the World Cup squad early in their campaign as a reserve. He would be a handy inclusion in Maxwell's absence to play England, but might not then be required if the 34-year-old is back as expected for the final two group-stage games.
Aaron Hardie would be a like-for-like swap for Marsh, while Tim David is another option after the T20 finisher was given a shot at showing his credentials in ODIs in the lead-in to this tournament.
Australia's 2023 ODI World Cup fixtures
October 8: Lost to India by six wickets
October 12: Lost to South Africa by 134 runs
October 16: Defeated Sri Lanka by five wickets
October 20: Defeated Pakistan by 62 runs
October 25: Defeated Netherlands by 309 runs
October 28: Defeated New Zealand by five runs
November 4: v England, Ahmedabad (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT
November 7: v Afghanistan, Mumbai (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT
November 11: v Bangladesh, Pune, 4pm AEDT
Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa
2023 World Cup standings
| Team | M | W | L | T | N/R | NRR | Ded. | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1
IND
|
9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.57 | 0 | 18 |
|
2
SA
|
9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.261 | 0 | 14 |
|
3
AUS
|
9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.841 | 0 | 14 |
|
4
NZ
|
9 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0.743 | 0 | 10 |
|
5
PAK
|
9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | -0.199 | 0 | 8 |
|
6
AFG
|
9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | -0.336 | 0 | 8 |
|
7
ENG
|
9 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | -0.572 | 0 | 6 |
|
8
BAN
|
9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -1.087 | 0 | 4 |
|
9
SL
|
9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -1.419 | 0 | 4 |
|
10
NED
|
9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -1.825 | 0 | 4 |
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
T: Ties
N/R: No results
NRR: Net Run Rate
Ded.: Deductions
PTS: Total points