Australia lock in opening pair as T20 World Cup nears

Mitchell Marsh, Australia’s T20I captain, revealed on Friday that himself and swashbuckling opener and ICC No.2 ranked T20I batter Travis Head will remain the team’s top two until the marquee ICC Men's T20 World Cup next year.

Fresh off a 5-0 whitewash of West Indies in the T20I series last month, Australia will welcome back a few familiar faces – including Travis Head – for their upcoming three-match series against South Africa, starting Sunday, 10 August.

"It'll be myself and Heady [Travis Head] up the top for the foreseeable future," Marsh told reporters.

"Obviously, we've played a lot together, (we've) got a great relationship, so (we'll) start there."

While Marsh and Head are yet to open together in T20Is, they boast an outstanding record as an ODI pairing, pitching in with 282 runs from just five innings at a superb 70.50 average. In total, Marsh and Head's record as a pair reads 504 runs from 14 innings at a 38.76-run average, with one century and three half-century stands.

Marsh’s shift to No.3 ahead of the 2021 T20 World Cup was hailed widely, with the right-hand batter amassing 185 runs from five outings, culminating in a Player of the Final performance as Australia lifted the trophy for the first time.

Marsh was also tasked with leading Australia at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 last year, where Australia were knocked out in the Super Eights, with the batter making 125 runs across seven outings.

Now still at the helm, the 33-year-old has embraced the opening role after doing so in all five matches against the West Indies last month, albeit having a poor outing with only 81 runs coming across five games.

Since David Warner’s retirement following last year’s T20 World Cup in the Caribbean, Australia have tried and tested multiple openers, including Matt Short, Glenn Maxwell and Jake Fraser-McGurk.

But the Marsh-Head combination now looks set in stone as the team builds towards the flagship Men's T20I tournament next year.

Marsh also addressed the batting order of big-hitter Tim David, whose 37-ball century in the third T20I against West Indies – the fastest by an Australian – came after an early arrival at the crease.

"We've spoken about it. We saw that in the Caribbean, that he came in earlier than he would normally," Marsh added.

"His skill set is made for that. The more balls he faces, hopefully the more games he wins us."

Australia T20I squad to face South Africa: Mitchell Marsh (c), Sean Abbott, Tim David, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matt Kuhnemann, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Owen, Matthew Short, Adam Zampa

Fixtures:

10 August: First T20I, Marrara Stadium, Darwin

12 August: Second T20I, Marrara Stadium, Darwin

16 August: Third T20I, Cazalys Stadium, Cairns