Australia all-rounder Marcus Stoinis has been ruled out of Wednesday’s game against Pakistan with a side strain. Though Stoinis hasn’t been ruled out of the World Cup, Cricket Australia have arranged for Mitchell Marsh to depart for the UK as cover.
Stoinis picked up the side strain during Australia’s match against India at The Oval. His fitness will again be assessed before the Pakistan game and a further call will be taken. ICC rules state that a player ruled out of the World Cup can’t be added back to the squad.
Against Pakistan though, Australia will have to choose a replacement from Shaun Marsh, Kane Richardson, Jason Behrendorff and Nathan Lyon.
Marsh, who last played an ODI in January 2018, was supposed to be in England for the A tour later this month but his departure from Australia was fast-tracked to allow the team the option of a back-up allrounder, should Stoinis be ruled out of the tournament.
Earlier this year, Marsh was dropped from Australia’s list of contracted players for the 2019-20 season after enduring a tough season since being elevated as Australia’s joint Test vice-captain. He lost his spot in the national side across formats due to poor performances, including twin failures against India in the Boxing Day Test match.
Even though Marsh had been replaced by Stoinis in Australia’s ODI plans, he still remained on the radar for red-ball cricket. He ended the Sheffield Shield with a century and earned a spot in Australia’s 14-member four-day side set to tour England in July.
