Why is Mitchell Marsh not playing ENG vs AUS 2024 2nd T20I?
Australia will be without their regular captain Mitchell Marsh for the second T20I against England at the Sophia Gardens in Cardiff on Friday, September 13. With the West Australian suffering from an illness, Travis Head will lead the national team for the first time. Meanwhile, Jake Fraser-McGurk will play instead of Marsh in the eleven.
Head has been in imperious form with the bat, responsible for providing Australia with rapid starts at the top of the order. The left-hander slammed a swashbuckling 25-ball 80 in the first T20I against Scotland but returned with low scores in the next two matches of the series.
Nevertheless, Head was lethal against the Englishmen in the first T20I in Southampton. He blasted a 23-ball 59 as the tourists set 180 for the hosts to win. Australia eventually won by 28 runs to go 1-0 up in the three-match series.
England captain Phil Salt also announced one change as the hosts aim to level the series. Jofra Archer will sit out, with Brydon Carse replacing him. Carse has played three T20Is after debuting in August 2023 and has taken four wickets.
Jake Fraser-McGurk will be eager for big runs with Mitchell Marsh ruled out
Fraser-McGurk will be keen to get some big runs under his belt after scoring only 16 runs in three matches after replacing Marsh. The youngster made his T20I debut against Scotland in the preceding series and registered scores of 0, 16, and 0. With Head in stupendous form, Fraser-McGurk will be looking to draw some learnings from his captain.
The second change that the visitors have triggered is bringing in all-rounder Cooper Connolly. He's replaced right-arm seamer Xavier Bartlett, who has been ruled out of the remaining two T20Is due to side strain. Left-arm seamer Ben Dwarshuis will join the squad for the final T20I in Manchester, set to take place on September 15.
The final change for Australia is Aaron Hardie has replaced Josh Hazlewood.