Short out of West Indies series as Marsh's bowling remains 'offline'

Matt Short has been ruled out of the T20I series in West Indies due to a side strain while captain Mitchell Marsh confirmed he is unlikely to return to bowling ahead of next year's T20 World Cup.

Short pulled up sore after training in Jamaica and given the condensed nature of the series it has been decided he will return home. However, the injury is described as "minor" and he is expected to be available to face South Africa in the Top End next month.

Earlier this year Short picked up a quad injury during the Champions Trophy which ruled him out of the semi-final against India. Short has so far played 14 T20Is and is seen as a strong chance to feature in next year's T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka.

His absence has opened the door for an unexpected opportunity for Jake Fraser-McGurk who was only recently added to the squad as a replacement for injured quick Spencer Johnson. Fraser-McGurk's call-up came largely to act as wicketkeeping cover for Josh Inglis. He will now open alongside Marsh for the opening match at Sabina Park.

Meanwhile, Marsh confirmed he will play as a specialist batter over the coming months. He has not bowled since the Test series against India late last year and has only been used once in white-ball internationals since March 2024.

"Currently the bowling's offline and we'll just see where that gets to," Marsh said. "But looking forward to just playing as a batsman for the moment."

Travis Head, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood are sitting out the West Indies series, while Cummins and Starc will also miss the South Africa matches in August, with Marsh confirming that various combinations of teams will be tried in the lead-up to the World Cup.

"First and foremost, it's always 'we're representing Australia, we're here to win the series' and culturally, that's how we want to go about it," he said. "There will be guys that get opportunities. We've obviously got a few guys missing for this series [for] a well-earned rest. We'll see guys bat in different positions and get opportunities in certain positions."

Tim David will miss the opening match against West Indies as he continues to recover from a hamstring injury picked up at the IPL but it is hoped he will be available for the second game on Tuesday.