The leadership role for the Australian men's T20 team will be awarded to Mitchell Marsh, and he will be the first World Cup squad for him as the captain. He previously acted as the interim captain of Australia's T20I side for the past year or so. However, to lead this 15-man squad without Steve Smith, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Jason Behrendorff, and Matt Short, this is the first time Marsh is leading a World Cup squad as a captain.
He feels privileged to represent his country, and to lead this group of players and staff during the tournament only increases further. The recent successes instill a level of confidence, and I am really excited about our chances going into what looks like a very competitive tournament.
Ashton Agar and Cameron Green both make a return to the squad and have not played any international T20 for a little over 18 months.
The coach, Andrew McDonald, admitted that the squad is well-balanced and is looking forward to the competition in what will be the ninth edition of the T20 World Cup.
"This squad carries a lot of experience having played through previous World Cups. Carefully assembled, we feel we've pulled together a squad that will suit the challenges of the West Indies venues and opponents. Having Ashton Agar back is a massive boost, alongside Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Cam Green, and Mitch Marsh," Bailey added.
Steve Smith's omission means his tour of Australian white-ball World Cup campaigns since 2014—in which he played star roles in their wins in 2015, 2023 in the ODI, and 2021 in the T20—comes to an end.
Bailey said that the selection of the squad had been the subject of many debates. "Steve Smith, Matt Short, Jason Behrendorff, Aaron Hardie, Spencer Johnson, and Xavier Bartlett were all subjected to exhaustive consideration. Jake Fraser-McGurk, who has yet to play T20 International cricket but has shown all the qualities in the high-performance group," he said.
Though the squad has to face the challenge of managing the size, Bailey said that the ones that were left out in the first round of cuts can still be on radar, and could even be added to the squad under the International Cricket Council's rules.
The final squad is an ideal mix of talent, and should Australia have no other luck, it will do its best to maximize its chances of winning the tournament.
Australia T20 World Cup squad: Mitch Marsh captain, Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa.
Read also | IPL 2024: Stoinis Shines as LSG Climbs to Third, MI's Playoff Dreams Dwindle
