Steve Smith was among the notable omissions from the 15-member Australian cricket team to play at the T20 World Cup later next month in the USA and the Caribbean.
Also not making the cut besides Smith were youngster Jake Fraser-McGurk, experienced seamer Jason Behrendorff and all-rounder Matt Short.
Australia’s selection chair George Bailey said leaving out names like Smith was a hard call to take.
“Steve Smith, Matt Short, Jason Behrendorff, Aaron Hardie, Spencer Johnson and Xavier Bartlett were all part of long conversations, along with several others, including Jake Fraser-McGurk who is yet to play T20 International cricket but continues to impress and is developing rapidly,” Bailey said.
“Being constrained to a squad of 15 for World Cups is always a challenge given the different scenarios and options we’d like to cover. We will continue monitoring several players who have missed out on this preliminary squad and note that if we need to change this squad, we have the option to do so over the coming month in accordance with ICC regulations.
“Ultimately the balance of the final 15 needs to provide the best chance of being successful in this campaign,” he said.
The Australian selectors also had a few surprises in terms of the players they named in the side. Left-arm spinner Ashton Agar earned a recall despite not having played a T20I since the last T20 World Cup on Australian soil in 2022.
Watch: Australia use World Cup winners to reveal side for T20 World Cup
We weren’t sure how to announce this year’s @T20WorldCup squad, so we asked a few of our friends to do it for us…#T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/6rQZEe2LBQ
— Cricket Australia (@CricketAus) May 1, 2024
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The 2021 T20 World Cup champions have named a side loaded with all-rounder options in the form of Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, Cameron Green and Glenn Maxwell.
The team will be led by Mitchell Marsh, who has been promoted to full-time T20I skipper of the Australian team. Marsh has been performing the role as interim captain of Australia’s T20I side for much of the last 12 months. The T20 World Cup will be his first major tournament as skipper.
Australia squad
Mitchell Marsh (c), 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
