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Australia suffered a major setback ahead of next month’s Twenty20 World Cup after fast bowler Pat Cummins was ruled out of the tournament due to a lingering back injury, with Ben Dwarshuis named as his replacement in the squad.
Cummins featured in just one of the five Ashes Tests against England and was initially included in Australia’s provisional World Cup squad in the hope that he would regain fitness in time for the Super Eight stage of the tournament, scheduled to be held in India and Sri Lanka. However, the pacer failed to recover in time, forcing the selectors to make a change.
In another squad update, Matt Renshaw was drafted in to replace fellow batter Matthew Short. Despite impressive form in the Big Bash League, veteran Steve Smith missed out on a place in Australia’s World Cup squad.
"With Pat needing more time to recover from his back injury, Ben is a ready replacement who offers a left-arm pace option as well as dynamic fielding and late-order hitting," selector Tony Dodemaide said.
"We believe his ability to swing the ball at a good pace, along with clever variations, will be well-suited to the conditions we expect and overall structure of the squad."
The Mitchell Marsh-led side is currently playing a three-match T20 series in Pakistan as part of their preparation for the World Cup. "With the top order settled and spin-heavy conditions expected in the pool stages in Sri Lanka, we also feel Matt provides extra middle-order support, with Tim David completing his return-to-play program in the early phase of the tournament," Dodemaide said of Renshaw's selection.
"As a left-hander, he also offers a point of difference to the middle-order batting." Renshaw scored 15 in his T20 debut for Australia in Thursday's defeat in Lahore.
The former champions begin their World Cup campaign against Ireland in a February 11 match in Colombo.
Australia World Cup squad: Mitchell Marsh (captain), Travis Head, Xavier Bartlett, Josh Hazlewood, Cooper Connolly, Josh Inglis, Tim David, Matthew Kuhnemann, Ben Dwarshuis, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, Matthew Renshaw, Nathan Ellis, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa
Cummins featured in just one of the five Ashes Tests against England and was initially included in Australia’s provisional World Cup squad in the hope that he would regain fitness in time for the Super Eight stage of the tournament, scheduled to be held in India and Sri Lanka. However, the pacer failed to recover in time, forcing the selectors to make a change.
In another squad update, Matt Renshaw was drafted in to replace fellow batter Matthew Short. Despite impressive form in the Big Bash League, veteran Steve Smith missed out on a place in Australia’s World Cup squad.
"With Pat needing more time to recover from his back injury, Ben is a ready replacement who offers a left-arm pace option as well as dynamic fielding and late-order hitting," selector Tony Dodemaide said.
"We believe his ability to swing the ball at a good pace, along with clever variations, will be well-suited to the conditions we expect and overall structure of the squad."
The Mitchell Marsh-led side is currently playing a three-match T20 series in Pakistan as part of their preparation for the World Cup. "With the top order settled and spin-heavy conditions expected in the pool stages in Sri Lanka, we also feel Matt provides extra middle-order support, with Tim David completing his return-to-play program in the early phase of the tournament," Dodemaide said of Renshaw's selection.
"As a left-hander, he also offers a point of difference to the middle-order batting." Renshaw scored 15 in his T20 debut for Australia in Thursday's defeat in Lahore.
The former champions begin their World Cup campaign against Ireland in a February 11 match in Colombo.
Australia World Cup squad: Mitchell Marsh (captain), Travis Head, Xavier Bartlett, Josh Hazlewood, Cooper Connolly, Josh Inglis, Tim David, Matthew Kuhnemann, Ben Dwarshuis, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, Matthew Renshaw, Nathan Ellis, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa
