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Mitchell Marsh leaves Australia squad in the middle of World Cup 2023, flies back home with no return date
"Mitchell Marsh has returned home from the ICC Men's World Cup for personal reasons. A timeline on his return to the squad is yet to be confirmed," said CA.
Australia all-rounder Mitchell Marsh has flown back home in the middle of the World Cup due to personal reasons. Marsh who flew to Perth on Wednesday is set to be unavailable for an indefinite period as Cricket Australia said there is no confirmation on his return yet. "Mitchell Marsh has returned home from the ICC Men's World Cup for personal reasons. A timeline on his return to the squad is yet to be confirmed," said CA on Thursday.
The 32-year-old has been in decent form at the World Cup, compiling 225 runs at 37.50 so far. That was boosted by a classy 121 in a 259-run opening partnership with David Warner against Pakistan.
His absence comes as a major setback for Australia who will already miss the services of Glenn Maxwell for their next match against England in Ahmedabad on Saturday. Maxwell fell from the back of a golf cart and suffered bruises in a free accident. He is concussed and set to be under observation.
Although Maxwell will sit out Saturday's game against England at the world's biggest cricket stadium in Ahmedabad, he is expected to return for the later stages of the tournament.
"In transporting him back from the clubhouse to the team bus, Glenn came off the back of a cart and has suffered a small concussion, so he will go into concussion protocols for the next period of time and will, unfortunately, miss the England game," coach Andrew McDonald said.
"The guys were ferried off on carts. Glenn and a few other players jumped on the back of carts and unfortunately, he lost his grip on the way back to the team bus and sustained that injury.
"It was just a clear-cut accident. He's an important player for us, hopefully, it's just the one game he misses."
Marsh, who had slid down to No.3 after the return of Travis Head at the top of the order, is sure to miss the England match. Whether he takes any part in the other two matches against Afghanistan on November 7 in Mumbai followed by the match against Bangladesh on November 11 in Pune, will be known in due course.
The unavailability of Maxwell and Marsh is sure to leave a hole in Australia's XI. Both the all-rounders add balance to the team and although they have Marcus Stoinis and Cameron Green in the squad, they haven't been in the best of forms of late. As things stand now, Australia don't have much option but to bring back both Stoinis and Green in the XI for the match against England.
Australia are in good form as a team. They shrugged off the disappointments of the two early losses to India and South Africa to bounce back and win four matches in a row. They need to win two of their three matches to advance to the semi-finals without a hiccup. Despite the injury to Maxwell and the absence of Marsh, Australia are favourites to beat an out-of-form England, a hapless Bangladesh and a spirited Afghanistan.
