Ahead of the start of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024, Australia are facing a severe shortage of squad members. As few players remained engaged in the IPL 2024 final, and a couple being injured, only 9 players are left before the start of the World Cup warm-up matches.

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Australia to play warm-up matches with 9 players

They are expected to have only nine players available for the match against Namibia on Tuesday (Wednesday morning Australian time), with their resources further strained as captain Mitchell Marsh is still recovering from a hamstring injury that ended his IPL season, preventing him from bowling. Additionally, they face co-hosts West Indies on Thursday. Pat Cummins, Travis Head, and Mitchell Starc, who played in the IPL final on Sunday, will briefly return to Australia before joining the World Cup squad. Glenn Maxwell and Cameron Green, both involved in Royal Challengers Bengaluru's playoff run, are also spending time at home. These five players are scheduled to join the Australia squad in Barbados before their first group match against Oman on June 5. Additionally, Marcus Stoinis has yet to arrive in the Caribbean.

"It's important to be flexible," Marsh told cricket.com.au. "Guys have been at the IPL. They've been playing a lot of cricket so we've prioritized giving them a couple of days at home, see their family, refresh and play the long game for this tournament. We'll get to our 15 eventually but it's really important that we give them a break, even if it's [just] a couple of days at home."

As a result, Australia may need to rely on members of the coaching staff to field during the warm-up matches to have a complete team. Brad Hodge has joined the support staff for this tournament, and head coach Andrew McDonald, national selector George Bailey, and assistant coach Andre Borovec might also step in.