Australia head coach Andrew McDonald has expressed uncertainty over Mitchell Marsh's return to bowling ahead of T20 World Cup 2024 and confirms it wouldn't be in their opening game. Following the warm-up fixture against the West Indies, the former all-rounder saw happy signs as Marsh was able to move freely around the field.
Marsh sustained a hamstring injury during his IPL 2024 stint for the Delhi Capitals, forcing him t return home early. Nevertheless, the West Australian has recovered from the injury as the Men in Yellow hope to lift the trophy for the 2nd time.
Speaking after the warm-up fixture against the West Indies on Friday, McDonald stated, as quoted by cricket.com.au:
"For Mitch, (the warm-up games) was about ticking off where his body was at. He fielded more overs tonight, he was able to move more freely, so he's building a little bit of confidence there. It looks as though he's all set for the first game. The second part is just when the bowling comes back online … it won't be the first game."
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"We'll work through our plans leading into Oman" - Andrew McDonald
McDonald further claimed that Australia are comfortable with the idea of having their players joining late due to the IPL commitments, adding:
"It was by design, in terms of when we were getting people back after the IPL; we were well aware we weren't going to get the squad together until the first of next month. We've got some things in place where we'll bring the group together, we'll work through our plans leading into Oman and there's a bit of space between that game and (playing) England."
Australia won their first warm-up match against Namibia, but lost their 2nd to the West Indies and will open their campaign against Oman on June 6th in Barbados.
