T20 World Cup 2024: Australia Uses Coaches As Fielders In Warm-Up Victory Over Namibia

Short-handed Australia resorted to using members of their coaching staff as fielders in their first T20 World Cup 2024 warm-up match against Namibia at the Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago on Wednesday, May 29.

With six players missing due to an extended break following their participation in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 and injury issues, the 2021 champions looked beyond their bench to fill the 11 members required for fielding in the practice match.

Travis Head, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, and Marcus Stoinis were the six players who missed the warm-up match as they were part of IPL 2024. Meanwhile, reserves Jake Fraser-McGurk and Matthew Short also missed the game.

Taking the field to fill in the 11 were head coach Andrew McDonald, chief selector George Bailey, assistant coach Andre Borovec, and batting coach Brad Hodge. While Bailey and Borovec took the field initially, McDonald and Hodge joined them later when two regulars needed rest.

Meanwhile, other IPL stars Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Matthew Wade, David Warner, and skipper Mitchell Marsh, who had little game-time in the tournament, featured for Australia in the practice match.

Despite featuring only nine men from their 15-member squad, Australia defeated Namibia by seven wickets in the T20 World Cup 2024 warm-up match in Port of Spain on Tuesday night.

After Josh Hazlewood (2 for 5) and Adam Zampa (3 for 25) helped restrict Namibia to 119, Warner, who was coming off an average IPL season, made light work of the run chase by scoring an unbeaten 54 off 21 balls.

Marsh, recovering from a hamstring issue, scored 18 off 14 balls before a mix-up with Warner resulted in a run-out. Tim David also contributed with a 16-ball 23, while Wade saw Australia home alongside Warner with an unbeaten 12 off five balls.

Upcoming Matches

Australia will next face T20 World Cup 2024 co-hosts West Indies in their second and final warm-up match on Thursday, May 30 at the same venue in Port of Spain before the tournament proper begins later in the weekend.

Australia is in Group B with defending champions England, Namibia, Scotland, and Oman. They hope that players on an extended break after IPL 2024 will be available for their group stage opener against Oman on June 6.