Australia’s chief selector and fielding coach were forced to take to the field in the nation’s first Twenty20 World Cup warm-up match when a host of star players failed to arrive in the Caribbean. 

The Australians cruised past Namibia to win by seven wickets in the first of two warm-up matches held in Port of Spain, Trinidad, on Tuesday.

However, it was the on-field inclusion of chief selector George Bailey and fielding coach Andre Borovec that really raised eyebrows.

The Australians could only field nine squad members instead of the regulation 11, with a number of national players yet to return from Indian Premier League duties.

At one stage, Bailey and Borovec were also joined on the field by head coach Andrew McDonald and batting consultant Brad Hodge, when captain Mitch Marsh and Josh Hazlewood spent time off the field.      

“Obviously, we didn’t have a full quota of players but the guys who played, probably a few of us needed to coming off a big lay-off,” Hazlewood told the Cricket Australia website.

To be fair to Namibia, Australia’s substitutes are more than handy.

Bailey, 41, is the former captain of Australia’s One-Day side while Borovec, 46, is former wicketkeeper for Geelong in Victorian Premier Cricket.

Six Australian World Cup squad members — Pat Cummins, Travis Head, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Starc, Glenn Maxwell and Cameron Green — have yet to arrive in Port Of Spain.

An easy victory

After restricting Namibia to 119-9, Australia, led by opener David Warner’s 54 not out, scored 123-3 in 10 overs and won by seven wickets.

Warner smashed six fours and three sixes through just 21 deliveries in an excellent sign for the Aussies.

Adam Zampa was best of the bowlers with 3/25 from his four overs while Hazlewood was as miserly as ever, snaring 2/5 from his spell that included 20 dot balls. 

Bailey and Borovec both aided the effort with catches, though they have attributed simply to the substitute in the official scorecard.

“I know a number of the bowlers were coming off a long break which is pretty unusual in our system,” Hazlewood said.

“So a nice hit out, got the result and we move onto the West Indies in a few days.”