Australia have included Marnus Labuschagne in their 15-man squad for the World Cup as replacement for the injured Ashton Agar. It is the only change to the original squad announced by Cricket Australia with destructive batter Travis Head retaining his spot despite his own injury with the hope of him being available midway through the tournament.
Squad: Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Marsh, David Warner, Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa
Left-arm spinner Agar was picked as one of two frontline spinners in the priliminary squad named on September 6. He picked up a calf injury on the tour of South Africa and returned home for the birth of his first child. Subsequently, he missed the series in India.
Brought back for the ODIs in South Africa, Labuschange top-scored with 283 runs from five games at an average of 70.75 and and added another 138 runs at 46 from three games in India.
Meanwhile, Australia decided to keep Head in the squad despite the South Australian suffering a fractured hand during the fourth ODI against South Africa and some way away from regaining match readiness. “This was a tough call but unfortunately, we couldn’t carry both Travis and Ashton into the tournament with the injuries they have,” chief of selectors George Bailey said..
“We have made the decision to carry Travis through the early stages with the aim of him being available around the mid part of the tournament. He has been a really important player in this ODI team and we are hopeful his return can provide a positive impetus as it gets to the business end of the tournament.
“Mitchell Starc and Glenn Maxwell are progressing well through the rehabilitation of their respective injuries and it was pleasing to see them return to the playing eleven last night,” he added.
Meanwhile, Matt Short and Tanveer Sangha, who were part of the tour of India, will remain with the squad until at least the conclusion of the warm-up matches. Australia begin their quest for a sixth ODI World Cup title with a clash against India in Chennai on October 8.
