Mitch Marsh returns to training as Marcus Stoinis declared fit to face Sri Lanka in crucial T20 World Cup match
Mitch Marsh is pushing for a World Cup return against Sri Lanka after the men’s T20 captain got through Australia’s training session on the eve of their crunch clash with the tournament co-hosts.
It’s believed a final call on Marsh’s fitness will be made on the morning of the match to see how he recovers from the extended session, but the signs were positive for the former champions regaining their leader and opening batter for the must-win encounter in Kandy.
Marsh batted against side-arm throwdowns and local spinners for about 45 minutes on Sunday night, launching several balls out of the Pallekele Stadium as well as one that struck a quarter of the way up one of the venue’s four light towers.
The 34-year-old has missed Australia’s first two matches of the tournament due to internal testicular bleeding after being hit in the groin area at training a week ago, but he appeared to be moving freely on Sunday as he completed running and fielding drills.
Marcus Stoinis also trained strongly after copping a blow to his left hand in his follow through during Australia’s 23-run loss to Zimbabwe in their previous match.
Subsequent scans have cleared the allrounder of any damage to his hand and he has been declared fit to face Sri Lanka, though he did briefly pause his more than hour-long net session to apply strapping to the area before continuing batting.
“The hand is pretty good,” he told reporters during a media conference prior to training. “Much better than I thought, to be honest.
“I got the scan and there’s no break there or anything like that, so it’s just a bit battered and bruised.”
Stoinis said Marsh was also confident of being able to suit up against Sri Lanka on Monday night (Tuesday, 12.30am AEDT).
“He’s been in a bit of pain over the last week, so a lot of those questions (on his availability) will be answered through training,” Stoinis said.
Steve Smith remains outside the official World Cup squad for now but was first in the nets when training began on Sunday night and returned for a second hit at the end of the session.
He looked to have lost none of his touch from the Big Bash as the ball pinged off his blade around the Pallekele outfield, as well as onto the grassy banks adorning the square boundaries of the picturesque mountainside venue.
The Kandy ground has been the highest and fastest scoring of the six to have hosted men’s T20 internationals in Sri Lanka and the practice pitches certainly appeared pacier and more suited to Australia’s powerful batting line up than the slow, turning surfaces they faced in their opening two Group B matches at Colombo’s R. Premadasa Stadium.
Sri Lanka belted Oman for 225 at the tournament’s only match at Pallekele Stadium so far, with its average per wicket (25.26) and run rate per over (8.33) in men’s T20Is the highest among Sri Lankan venues.
Marsh’s pending return may have put Smith’s Australian T20 comeback on ice for now and he can’t play in the tournament until he is officially added to their 15-man squad.
Australia do have a spare spot to bring him straight into the 15 if required after opting not to initially replace injured paceman Josh Hazlewood when he was ruled of tournament. Fast bowler Sean Abbott is the second reserve travelling with the Aussie squad during the World Cup.
After their upset loss to Zimbabwe on Friday, Australia’s best chance of progression to the Super Eight stage is by winning both of their remaining group matches, and they have the benefit of playing last against Oman (Saturday, 12.30am AEDT), so they will know exactly what net run-rate they need to achieve should they finish level on points with Sri Lanka and the African nation.
“The boys are pretty disappointed with the result, but we’ve got no one to blame but ourselves and Zimbabwe played really well,” Stoinis said.
“(We’ve had) some debutants in World Cup cricket but they’ve also played quite a lot now. Looking down our list, it feels like there’s more than enough talent there to look after the situations in the games that we’re playing.
“As much as we can talk about team line up and who’s in, who’s out, I think if everyone just looks after their role it should hold us in good stead.”
2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup
Australia squad: Mitch Marsh (c), Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Tim David, Ben Dwarshuis, Cameron Green, Nathan Ellis, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Renshaw, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa. Travelling reserve: Sean Abbott, Steve Smith
Australia’s Group Stage fixtures
February 11: beat Ireland by 67 runs
February 13: lost to Zimbabwe by 23 runs
February 16: v Sri Lanka, Pallekele International Stadium, Kandy (Feb 17, 12:30am AEDT)
February 20: v Oman, Pallekele International Stadium, Kandy (Feb 21, 12:30am AEDT)
Australia’s Super Eight fixtures
(Assuming all seeded teams qualify)
February 23: Australia (X2) v West Indies (X3), Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai (Feb 24, 12:30am AEDT)
February 26: India (X1) v Australia (X2), MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai (Feb 27, 12:30am AEDT)
March 1: Australia (X2) v South Africa (X4), Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi, 8:30pm AEDT
Click here for the full tournament schedule
All matches will be broadcast on Amazon’s Prime Video
