Hamstrung Australia search for answers in Sri Lanka ODI series with key players either injured or retired before the Champions Trophy.
Hamstrung Australia look for Champions Trophy answers as they face off against Sri Lanka.
As they begin a short phase of training for the Champions Trophy 2025, Australia’s four-day triumph in Galle provided them an extra day before switching to one-day mode. There was only supposed to be one ODI in Colombo, but a second one was crammed in, and it will essentially serve as the team’s warm-up before they travel to Pakistan.
The Australia squad feels somewhat patched up due to injuries to Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, and Mitchell Marsh as well as Marcus Stoinis’ unexpected retirement. However, a familiar core of the 2023 World Cup-winning team is still present, including Travis Head, Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, and Adam Zampa.
Jake-Fraser McGurk, Cooper Connolly, Sean Abbott, Ben Dwarshuis, Spencer Johnson, and Tanveer Sangha are the six new players who have joined the original group. Given that certain players who participated in both Test matches were given a brief break, it seems likely that they will all be selected for at least one of the two games in Sri Lanka. It looks like Smith will be the captain.
Fraser-McGurk might enter late, but it seems likely that Head and Matt Short will be the first-choice opening duo. In the November home series against Pakistan, he and Short had a difficult time. Whether Alex Carey gets a spot in the middle order is another intriguing question.
These games have little immediate meaning because Sri Lanka’s dismal performance in the ODI World Cup cost them the Champions Trophy, but they can look ahead to 2027. Despite this, they have played the most games under the format since the last World Cup (21), winning 13 of them, including five series. They are likely as accustomed to the one-day format as anyone, which is ironic.