Australia coach Andrew McDonald has backed captain Mitchell Marsh to be back to full fitness before the start of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024. Marsh was pulled out of the IPL early last month due to a hamstring rupture, and his recovery has been far slower than planned since returning from India. Marsh joined a cohort of Australia’s squad members, not engaged in the IPL, for the initial three-day pre-tournament training camp in Brisbane. Another such camp is scheduled over the next two weeks before the squad leaves for the Caribbean on May 25th. Initially, Marsh wasn’t slated to attend the first camp due to his hamstring injury. However, his recovery allowed him to participate and bat in the nets over the last couple of days. Nonetheless, McDonald reiterated that Marsh’s bowling fitness would only be nearing completion closer to the tournament.
“You probably won’t see him bowl in the next couple of weeks here,” McDonald told reporters at Allan Border Field on Tuesday. “It’ll probably happen the week before we leave. And then he’ll be able to ramp that up when we’re over there. We’ll be able to cherry-pick the moments during the tournament where he’ll be useful with the ball. We’ve got some all-round depth in the squad, which gives us good coverage anyway.
“[His recovery was] probably a little slower than expected on the back of the hamstring. But we’ve got plenty of time now that he has been ruled out the IPL. The first game is just short of a month away now. So ample time for him to get ready. But really positive to see the skipper on the park.”
McDonald said there was no concern about Marsh’s lack of match practice over the last two months, given that Australia will play some practice games before their debut match against Oman. “No real concern about match fitness,” McDonald said. “We’ve got a couple of practice games when we get to Trinidad in the support period. So he’ll likely get plenty of match opportunities. And if not, we’ll be able to simulate those through practice, which our coaching staff are pretty good at.”
