Steve Smith and Mitchell Starc are dealing with injuries and have been ruled out of Australia’s white-ball tour of South Africa.
Born-again allrounder Mitchell Marsh has been confirmed as captain for the ODI portion of the series in South Africa after already receiving the nod for T20 duties.
Smith is struggling with a tendon injury in his left wrist, while Starc is experiencing groin soreness following the gruelling schedule in England for the World Test Championship final and the Ashes.
Starc’s issue is not related to the shoulder injury he sustained during the Ashes.
“The compacted Ashes series and the World Test Championship was a heavy load for the group, and we are taking a conservative approach to the build-up to the World Cup,” chairman of selectors George Bailey said.
“With the World Cup the priority of the squad, it was determined on advice that it was best for Steve and Mitchell to join the group in India by which time we expect them to be fully fit and available for the Indian ODI series, plus the World Cup warm-up fixture.”
(Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
In Smith’s absence, Marnus Labuschagne has received a reprieve, joining the squad for the 50-over games against his country of birth.
Labuschagne was left out of Australia’s preliminary World Cup squad two weeks ago.
The first of three T20s against South Africa gets underway on August 31, while the five-match ODI series begins in Bloemfontein on September 7.
Australia’s opening World Cup game is against hosts India in Chennai on October 8.
© AAP
Build your own fantasy cricket team and put it to the test with Draftstars daily fantasy competitions. Pick your match, pick your team and watch the points roll in to take out cash prizes on each match. What are you really gambling with? Set a deposit limit.
A six-laden, 27-ball 84 from Jake Fraser-McGurk to continue his outrageous debut IPL!
It seems franchise cricket has forgotten about the great battle between bat and ball. In fact, this season in the IPL there is no battle at all.
The mammoth rise of Jake Fraser-McGurk - his enormous potential and the destructive shot-making that he possesses makes him a very tempting option.
Test great Steve Smith is to play for Washington Freedom in the second season of Major League Cricket as the Australian influence in the…
Nathan Lyon has revealed his disappointment that Australia's cricket chiefs have prevented him from playing his first full season of county cricket in England…
Some of you may have watched the recent Fox Sports Series 'A Brief History of Australian Cricket: the Eighties'. If not, I’d definitely recommend…
