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The ICC T20 World Cup 2024 is all set to get underway in the West Indies and USA next month.
Grouped alongside England, Namibia, Scotland and Oman, the Aussies will begin their campaign against Oman on June 5.
On Wednesday, Australian selectors named a 15-man provisional squad for the tournament as they hunt for their second-ever T20 World Cup title.
MORE: 2024 T20 World Cup schedule
Mitch Marsh will lead Australia at the tournament but will have the experience and leadership of the likes of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, David Warner, Travis Head and Adam Zampa to call on.
The popular all-rounder spoke about his excitement at captaining the team.
“It’s been an immense privilege to play for my country and now an even greater honour to lead the squad to a World Cup,” Marsh said.
“I am extremely grateful to have such a good group of people in our players and staff. We have had some strong success in recent times and I am hopeful that will continue in what looks like a wide-open tournament.
“We take a very experienced group to the West Indies, I very much look forward to the challenge and working alongside Andrew (McDonald), the coaches, players and staff.”
Note: Teams can make changes to their 15-man squad up to May 25.
Mitchell Marsh (c)
Ashton Agar
Pat Cummins
Tim David
Nathan Ellis
Cameron Green
Josh Hazlewood
Travis Head
Josh Inglis
Glenn Maxwell
Mitchell Starc
Marcus Stoinis
Matthew Wade
David Warner
Adam Zampa
Chair of Selectors George Bailey spoke about some of the tough calls, with Jake Fraser-McGurk, Steve Smith, Jason Behrendorff, Spencer Johnson and Xavier Bartlett among the unlucky names to miss out on the provisional squad.
“This is an experienced squad with extensive World Cup experience that offers a variety of structures and covers the scenarios the panel believes will factor in the West Indies with the unique nature of the venues and our opponents,” Bailey said.
“It’s great to have Ashton Agar back into the squad following a spate of unfortunate and untimely injuries.
“We believe Ashton can play a critical role in this tournament along with Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Cam Green and Mitch Marsh in complementing our front-line attack options.
“Steve Smith, Matt Short, Jason Behrendorff, Aaron Hardie, Spencer Johnson and Xavier Bartlett were all part of long conversations, along with several others, including Jake Fraser-McGurk who is yet to play T20 International cricket but continues to impress and is developing rapidly.
“Being constrained to a squad of 15 for World Cups is always a challenge given the different scenarios and options we’d like to cover.
“We will continue monitoring several players who have missed out on this preliminary squad and note that if we wish to change this squad, we have the option to do so over the coming weeks in accordance with ICC regulations.
“Ultimately the balance of the final 15 needs to provide the best chance of being successful in this campaign.”
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