Newly minted Australian T20 captain Mitch Marsh has conceded that if the World Cup began tomorrow he’d “be in a bit of trouble” as he continues to recover from a hamstring injury suffered in the IPL.
But he’s adamant he’ll be fit and firing ahead of his team’s opening clash with Oman on June 6 in Barbados, happy the “silver lining” of missing most of the lucrative Indian tournament was extra time at home after a “heavy” workload over the past 12 months.
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“Still a couple of weeks away and the timing probably sits perfectly, barring no setbacks. I’ll be on the plane ready to go,” Marsh said.
“It’s pretty much exactly where we want it to be. So, yeah, it’s one of those things. I’ve just got to get it right over the next three weeks and get on the plane.
“It’s obviously really disappointing not to be playing with Delhi. The IPL is such a great tournament, but it has been a heavy sort of 18 months on the road.
“So yeah to get home for the last couple of weeks and spend time with family’s really important for me So yeah, there’s always a silver lining.”
Marsh said he’d “known for a while” he was going to be captain, the fact alluded to by coach Andrew McDonald on the recent tour of New Zealand.
He called it a “huge honour” and declared he wouldn’t change much, with a focus on care between teammates his key leadership trait, rather than any tactical nous other senior members of the 15-player squad don’t also have.
“That’s one of the biggest things I’ve learned is to not change too much,” the reigning Allan Border medallist said.
“Obviously there’s a lot of preparation and planning that goes into a World Cup and that’ll happen over the next month.
“But once we get there it’s keeping everything nice and relaxed and keeping the environment good and making sure we go out there and give it our all.”
Marsh was loath to address surprise omissions from the final squad, including veteran batter Steve Smith, declaring it was “not for me” to decide whether his time as an international T20 player was done.
“I mean, anytime there’s a World Cup team picked, there’s only 15, and some guys have to miss out, but I think we’ve got a really great squad that we’ve picked,” he said.
“We’ve got a lot of versatility, a lot of experience, and that brings a lot of excitement.”
That experience includes 37-year-old opening batter David Warner who has enjoyed “a long last hurrah”, according to Marsh, with the World Cup set to be his swan song.
Having opened the batting with him recently for the Delhi Capitals before his early IPL exit, Marsh said that while Warner may be ageing and battling a hand injury, his importance to the side for the World Cup couldn’t be understated.
Warner was dropped by the Capitals recently, with young Aussie Jake Fraser-McGurk firing in his place, before missing out on the World Cup squad.
“Yeah, it’s been a long last hurrah, hasn’t it for Davey?” Marsh said.
“We’re always really excited to have him in the team, just the experience that he brings.
“I think if you look back at his career, there’s been so many big moments that you need to do (to have the) experience to stand up, and Dave has always been one of those.
“So we’re lucky to have him.”