Marsh Becomes Australian T20 Captain

As selectors learned that Test and one-day captain Pat Cummins has a fractured wrist but should be able to play in the World Cup, Mitchell Marsh was chosen as Australia's new Twenty20 captain for their tour to South Africa.

For the first three T20 games following Aaron Finch's retirement, Marsh will captain a team without Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Cameron Green, and David Warner because they are all on rest.

As he recovers from the injury he got in the final Ashes Test in London, Cummins will also be missing.

For the South African tour's single day leg, they will all band together.

"He has an undisplaced fracture of his left radius which requires six weeks rehabilitation," chairman of selectors George Bailey said of Cummins.

"We expect him to join the squad during the South African ODI series. We view a period of enforced rest for Pat as a positive ahead of this important World Cup campaign.

"There are still a number of games he could play before the World Cup which is more than enough for him to have a strong preparation," he added.

Rising all-rounder Spencer Johnson, power-hitter Matthew Short and left-arm seamer Aaron Hardie all earned maiden national call-ups for the T20 games.

Jason Behrendorff also returns to national colours for the first time since the 2022 Pakistan tour.

"Mitch has long been a senior player within the white-ball structure, with this an opportunity for him to add to his leadership skills at international level," said Bailey of Marsh's elevation.

"We look forward to him taking that step in South Africa."

As Cricket Australia is yet to commit to a full-time replacement for Finch, who played his final international match in October of last year, Marsh was selected captain solely for the South Africa series.

A preliminary 18-man team was also announced for the 2023 World Cup and the five-match one-day series that would precede it against South Africa. This team is mainly a continuation of the one that defeated India 2-1 in March.

However, Marnus Labuschagne was conspicuously absent, along with Hardie and promising young spinner Tanveer Sangha.

"This side has been extremely impressive for several years in limited-overs cricket," said Bailey of the 50-over team. "There is an enormous amount of skill and experience in the group which you need in a World Cup."

The World Cup squad will be slimmed down to 15 in early September.

Australia T20 squad:

Mitchell Marsh (capt), Sean Abbott, Jason Behrendorff, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Aaron Hardie, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Glenn Maxwell, Matt Short, Steve Smith, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa

Australia ODI squad:

Pat Cummins (capt), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa.