Australia’s preparations for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy are in turmoil, with key injuries and leadership uncertainty. With captain Pat Cummins and star fast bowler Josh Hazlewood ruled out due to ongoing injuries, the question now looms: who will lead the team in the prestigious tournament?
Selection chair George Bailey confirmed on Thursday that both Cummins and Hazlewood have not recovered in time for the Champions Trophy. “They are managing some ongoing injuries and haven’t come up in time for the Champions Trophy,” Bailey explained.
In addition to the injury concerns, Mitchell Marsh has also been sidelined due to a back injury, and Marcus Stoinis has announced his ODI retirement. These changes mean Australia will need to make at least four alterations to the squad initially named on January 13.
Australia has until February 12 to finalize its squad, which will also coincide with the start of a two-match ODI series against Sri Lanka in Colombo.
To adjust, the team has added pace bowlers Sean Abbott, Spencer Johnson, and Ben Dwarshuis, as well as spin and batting reinforcements in Tanveer Sangha, Cooper Connolly, and Jake Fraser-McGurk.
With Cummins unavailable, Steve Smith and Travis Head emerge as the two clear contenders for the captaincy. “Steve Smith and Travis Head are the two that we’ve been having conversations with while we’ve been building out that Champions Trophy team,” coach Andrew McDonald told SEN radio on Wednesday.
As the team prepares for the February 22 start of the tournament, where they will face England, South Africa, and Afghanistan, the leadership and squad changes will be critical to Australia’s hopes of reclaiming the Champions Trophy they won in 2009.