Australia to go into a World Cup without a big three quick for the first time since 2011
Australia have been dealt another significant blow to their T20 World Cup hopes, with veteran paceman Josh Hazlewood ruled out of the tournament.
Having not played a match since injuring his hamstring in the Sheffield Shield on November 12, Hazlewood was initially named in the World Cup squad despite him remaining in Sydney when the group assembled in Sri Lanka this week.
But just five days out from the Aussies’ opening match against Ireland in Colombo, national selector Tony Dodemaide said the outlook for the 35-year-old has now changed.
Aussie warm-up clash curtailed by Colombo downpour
“We were hopeful Josh would be back to match fitness by the Super Eights stage but the latest indications (are) he is still some time away,” Dodemaide said. “Trying to accelerate his program will carry too much of a risk.
“We will not be naming a replacement player immediately. We feel we are well covered for the initial games so will make any later decisions based on priority need at the time.”
Hazlewood joins fellow all-format superstar Pat Cummins on the injury list for the ICC event, and leaves the Mitch Marsh-captained group skinny on the pace front to begin the tournament.
As it stands, right-arm swing man Xavier Bartlett and Sixers left-armer Ben Dwarshuis are the only two fully fit frontline quicks. Sean Abbott is a travelling reserve and could eventually be added to the squad as Hazlewood’s replacement.
CA’s statement today said both Ellis and star bat Tim David “are on track to be available for the group stage”. Adam Zampa has been declared fit for the Ireland match.
The absence of Hazlewood and Cummins, together with Mitchell Starc – who retired from T20 Internationals last year – means this upcoming event will be the first World Cup in which none of Australia’s ‘Big Three’ pacemen have featured since March 2011.
Given the conditions they are expected to face, Australia look likely to go spin heavy through the early part of the tournament.
Zampa, Matt Kuhnemann and Cooper Connolly the frontline options, while Marsh remains confident the 2021 champs have “a lot of bases covered with our squad” given the presence of seam-bowling allrounders Marcus Stoinis and Cameron Green.
“We’ve been able to build a lot of depth within our squad, and the guys that have come in have played a lot of cricket for our group,” Marsh said. “So we’ve got a lot of confidence in them to go out there and do the job when required and then we’ll just pick teams based on the conditions.
“Matthew Kuhnemann has been great for us. We’ve also got Adam Zampa and then we’ve got a few spinning allrounders, like most teams will. So I think we’ve got all bases covered and now it’s just about getting stuck into it.”
Australia were thrashed three-nil by Pakistan in their lead-up series to this World Cup, before last night’s scheduled clash with the Netherlands in Colombo was washed out without a ball being bowled.
2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup
Australia squad: Mitch Marsh (c), Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Tim David, Ben Dwarshuis, Cameron Green, Nathan Ellis, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Renshaw, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa. Travelling reserve: Sean Abbott
Australia’s Group Stage fixtures
February 11: v Ireland, R.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
February 13: v Zimbabwe, R.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
February 16: v Sri Lanka, Pallekele International Stadium, Kandy
February 20: v Oman, Pallekele International Stadium, Kandy
