Mitchell Starc latest withdrawal from Champions Trophy side, making him the fifth player to miss the tournament.
Mitchell Starc latest withdrawal from Australia’s squad for the Champions Trophy.
For personal reasons, he has withdrew from the Champions Trophy, and Australia has confirmed a different-looking 15-man roster led by Steven Smith.
Due to Marcus Stoinis’ retirement and the injuries to Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, and Mitchell Marsh, Australia had already had to make several changes to their provisional squad. Due to Starc’s absence, they will not have its full frontline pace attack, which won the World Cup, for the February 19 event in Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates.
“We understand and respect Mitch’s decision,” chair of selectors George Bailey said. “Mitch is deeply respected for his commitment to international cricket and the priority he places on performing for Australia.
“His well documented ability to play through pain and adversity, as well as forgoing opportunities in other parts of his career to put his country first should be applauded. His loss is of course a blow for the Champions Trophy campaign but does provide an opportunity to someone else to make a mark on the tournament.”
Smith, who guided Australia to a 2-0 victory in the Test series against Sri Lanka, will assume the leadership in lieu of Cummins and Marsh.
Outside of the initial 15-player roster that was revealed, Sean Abbott, Ben Dwarshuis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Spencer Johnson, and Tanveer Sangha have been added. Cooper Connolly will act as a backup.
When Marsh is not available, Fraser-McGurk, who averages 17.40 in five ODIs but closed the BBL with 95 off 46 balls for the Melbourne Renegades, offers another top-order option. Left-arm fast Despite being wicketless in two ODIs, Johnson is as close to a like-for-like as possible to Starc. Adam Zampa is joined by legspinner Sangha, who was already in Sri Lanka with the Test team as a development player.