Australia’s T20I captain, Mitchell Marsh, has confirmed that he and stylish opener Travis Head will remain the team’s first-choice top two until next year’s marquee ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
The Aussies are coming off a dominant 5-0 whitewash of the West Indies in last month’s T20I series. They will welcome back several familiar faces, including Head, for their upcoming three-match series against South Africa, starting Sunday, August 10.
“It’ll be myself and Heady [Travis Head] up the top for the foreseeable future. Obviously, we’ve played a lot together, (we’ve) got a great relationship, so (we’ll) start there,” Marsh said to reporters as quoted by ICC.
Marsh and Head are yet to open together in T20Is, but as an ODI duo, they have a fantastic record, scoring 282 runs in just five innings at an astounding average of 70.50. Overall, the combination has scored 504 runs in 14 innings at an average of 38.67, including one century and three half-century partnerships.
Marsh’s promotion to No. 3 ahead of the 2021 T20 World Cup was well applauded. He made 185 runs in five matches and was named Player of the Match in the final, helping Australia win the trophy for the first time. Marsh later captained the squad in the 2024 T20I World Cup, where Australia were eliminated in the Super Eights after scoring only 125 runs in seven innings.
Despite scoring only 81 runs in five games against the West Indies last month, the 33-year-old kept his opening spot. Since David Warner’s retirement, Australia has tried out numerous openers, including Jake Fraser-McGurk, Glenn Maxwell, and Matt Short.
Travis Head standing tall key to Australia’s success
However, the Marsh-Head combination now appears set in stone as Australia builds towards the flagship ICC Men’s T20 World Cup next year. Marsh also addressed the batting position of big-hitter Tim David, whose blistering 37-ball century in the third T20I against the West Indies, the fastest by an Australian, came after an early promotion up the order.
“We’ve spoken about it. We saw that in the Caribbean, that he came in earlier than he would normally. His skill set is made for that. The more balls he faces, hopefully the more games he wins us,” said Marsh.
Australia T20I squad against South Africa:
Mitchell Marsh (c), Sean Abbott, Tim David, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matt Kuhnemann, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Owen, Matthew Short, Adam Zampa
India
