Australia recently announced their 18-member preliminary squad for the upcoming ODI World Cup 2023 and Marnus Labuschagne is not a part of this world cup squad.
The former captain and chief selector of Australia, George Bailey, has shared his perspective on the decision to leave out Marnus Labuschagne from the preliminary squad for the upcoming ODI World Cup. The selection committee recently revealed an 18-player squad for this significant ODI tournament, scheduled to take place in India starting from October 5.
As the ODI World Cup approaches, the Australian team disclosed a preliminary squad, and amid this announcement, the omission of batter Marnus Labuschagne caught widespread attention. Bailey commented that Labuschagne’s absence was primarily attributed to his lack of consistent performance in the One-Day format. Despite this, Bailey also mentioned that there are plans for Labuschagne to participate in a few matches for Australia A, aimed at enhancing his focus on white-ball cricket.
“We know Marnus at his best is good enough to hold down a spot in the one-day team, we just haven’t seen enough of it consistently in the role that we’d like him to do. We’ve been really clear with Marnus; he’s going to be part of some Australia A games at the same time so he can focus on some white-ball cricket,” Bailey told reporters.
Before the commencement of the World Cup, the Australian team is set to engage in a multi-format series against South Africa. This series encompasses five One-Day International (ODI) matches, serving as a valuable dress rehearsal leading up to the significant event in India. In light of this, Bailey emphasized that players selected for the South Africa series will possess an advantageous position in terms of securing a spot in the final World Cup squad.
“Clearly the squad that we’ve got going to South Africa have the front-running for that. But Marnus, the age that he is and the skillset he has, we’ve got no doubt that he’ll play a part in one-day cricket in the future. I couldn’t give you a time on when that will be, but certainly, we know at his best he can play a really important role,” Bailey added.
Australia’s preliminary 18-member World Cup squad:
Pat Cummins (c), Glenn Maxwell, Sean Abbott, Adam Zampa. Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Nathan Ellis, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Mitchell Marsh, Tanveer Sangha, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner.
