Australia’s first T20 World Cup warm-up game started in bizarre circumstances on Wednesday (AEST), with the team only able to field nine players against Namibia.

Mitchell Marsh won the toss and opted to field first, which saw a number of team staff forced to take the field in a substitute fielding capacity.

George Bailey and Andrew McDonald were among those to field as the Aussies cruised to a seven-wicket win, while former Test batter Brad Hodge also helped out.

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After restricting Namibia to 119-9, Australia scored 123-3 in 10 overs with veteran opener David Warner finishing 54 not out in the run chase.

The 37-year-old is usually the elder statesman in whatever team he features in these days, but that wasn’t the case as chief selector Bailey (41) and head coach McDonald (42) were out to help their squad members in the tune-up game.

“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 layoff,” Josh Hazlewood said.

“I know a number of the bowlers were coming off a long break, which is pretty unusual in our system, but it’s good to get out there. Playing is always different to training.”

Australia were still without six World Cup squad members who took part in the IPL, including superstar pace bowlers Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins.

They will likely also be short-handed for its second warm-up game against West Indies, with none of the matches sanctioned by the ICC.

This year’s T20 World Cup begins on Saturday, and is being staged in the United States and the Caribbean.