Jake Fraser-McGurk and Matt Short Set to Join Australia as T20 World Cup Travelling Reserves

They have made the decision not to bring in a third frontline spinner as a backup. When Australia had just one specialist spinner at the ODI World Cup last year, legspinner Tanveer Sangha was part of the squad as a reserve; this time, Ashton Agar is one of the 15.

Sangha was not in contention because it is also believed that he is treating a hip flexor problem. Although playing Test and ODI cricket for Australia over the past two years, left-arm orthodox Matthew Kuhnemann trained with the country’s non-IPL players in Brisbane during the two camps that were held over the past two weeks.

Given his incredible IPL performance, Fraser-McGurk’s exclusion from the starting lineup caused a commotion; many people in Australia and abroad thought he should have been picked. He has only participated in two ODIs and is yet to make his T20I debut.

Due to Australia’s established top three of David Warner, Travis Head, and skipper Mitchell Marsh, he was not included for the starting team. Instead, the selectors felt that players with greater adaptability were needed to cover positions outside of the first-choice XI. In the unlikely event that one of the top three is hurt during the competition, Fraser-McGurk will probably cover.

Having featured in numerous batting roles and appearing in nine of Australia’s last 14 Twenty20 Internationals, Short was similarly unfortunate to miss out on a spot in the final 15.

Despite being the BBL player of the tournament as an opener in back-to-back seasons, he batted at No. 3 once and No. 6 twice as Australia attempted to establish some middle-order depth. He opened in five games. In just four of those games—three of which included an over during the powerplay—did he bowl his part-time offspin. He will probably cover for several different positions within the squad.

Because they may only play two of the four fast bowlers they selected for the squad during the competition, Australia has decided not to carry another fast bowler in their reserves. They can extend the batting order down to No. 8 by using two spinners or Cameron Green, their extra all-round player.

More readily than anyone staying in Australia, Spencer Johnson, Xavier Bartlett, and Sean Abbott can be transported into the Caribbean while they are competing in the T20 Blast in the UK during the World Cup.

Also Read: Australia’s T20 World Cup Squad Revealed: Marsh to Lead, Fraser-McGurk and Smith Omitted

The members of Australia’s squad not playing in the IPL finals will take a flight to the Caribbean on Thursday to attend a training camp in Trinidad. There, they will play two practice matches against the West Indies on May 30 and Namibia on May 28. Australia might only have a small squad for those games because players like Head, Green, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Glenn Maxwell are expected to arrive later than expected because the IPL playoffs don’t end until May 26.

While New Zealand chose not to hold any practice matches because it would be logistically difficult to have members of their team arrive in the Caribbean at different times, Australia is ready to play the warm-up games despite having a small selection for the tournament.

Marsh, Warner, Agar, Josh Hazlewood, Adam Zampa, Matthew Wade, Nathan Ellis, Josh Inglis, and Josh Warner are among their players who have either not played any cricket since the Australian domestic summer ended in March or have played very little in the Indian Premier League. Playing in the warm-up matches is restricted to players included in the 15-man team, per ICC regulations.

Along with Short, Marsh, Hazlewood, Inglis, Zampa, and Agar have been training in Brisbane for the previous two weeks. Marsh hasn’t bowled yet, but it’s believed that he has healed from his hamstring injury.