Australia’s key spinner Adam Zampa has been hard on himself after their early T20 World Cup exit, saying he feels “hollow” about the Sri Lanka capitulation
Adam Zampa has outlined the desolation among the Australian squad after their T20 World Cup flop, while admitting he blamed himself for under-achieving in his role as key spinning weapon.
The 33-year-old admitted to feeling “hollow” and not yet wanting to board the plane home after Mitch Marsh’s side got knocked out in the prelims of a World Cup for the first time in 17 years.
Not even a final-day flourish against much lower-ranked Oman, in which he took four wickets and the man-of-the-match award to set up a nine-wicket win, could console him.
“It’s not even on my mind at the moment, I’m particularly disappointed, I’m not ready to fly home tomorrow, that’s for sure,” sighed Australia’s all-time leading T20I wicket-taker.
“You’d prefer to have the wickets than not, but it’s probably the worst feeling after getting four wickets that I’ve ever had.
“I reckon I’d probably be feeling exactly the same if I got none-for tonight. Yeah, feeling pretty hollow, to be honest.”
Saying it had been “a tough few days” after the defeat to Sri Lanka effectively doomed Australia to an early exit, Zampa added that both he and the team had higher expectations of themselves.
“After what we’ve built as a group over the last two years, the way we’ve played some really good bilateral cricket, to be sitting here right now, knowing I’m flying home tomorrow, I didn’t envision this, that’s for sure. So it’s a flat feeling,” he said.
He reckoned the stunned team had not spoken much about the disappointment, though he expected a full review after they returned home and he was brutally honest about his own displays.
He was particularly harsh on himself about the Sri Lanka loss during which he was hit for 41 off four wicketless overs as the co-hosts coasted home by eight wickets at Pallekele.
“Looking back, I think I could have done more in that Sri Lanka game. My contribution to that game was not where I wanted it to be and I’m not happy with it.
“It’s definitely my job to seal wickets through the middle, and I was able to do that in a couple of games, and not in some others.
“We built something over the last couple of years, and we’ve all got to play our roles in big games, and, unfortunately, we couldn’t get it done when it mattered.
“We’re a good team, but then results like this, it’s just hard to fathom.”
Zampa admitted that it wasn’t just in Sri Lanka, but at the two previous T20 World Cups where Australia had under-performed.
“I guess we’re renowned for being a good tournament team, but since we won in 2021, really disappointing results in 2022 and 2024. Those two teams probably should have given it a nudge and got close to winning it.”
But he was equally quick to shut down suggestions that Australia didn’t care about T20s.
“It’s totally false. The coaches and the staff probably put as much time into that than they would into Test cricket – potentially even more,” he said.
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, Steve Smith, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa. Travelling reserve: Sean Abbott
Australia’s Group Stage fixtures
February 11: beat Ireland by 67 runs
February 13: lost to Zimbabwe by 23 runs
February 16: lost to Sri Lanka by eight wickets
February 20: beat Oman by nine wickets
Click here for the full tournament schedule
All matches will be broadcast on Amazon’s Prime Video
