Marsh says 'depth is a privilege' as Australia make T20 statement

Australia's build towards next year's T20 World Cup could not have got off to a better start with the 5-0 sweep over West Indies in which several players staked claims for permanent spots in the team, leaving some potentially big calls for the selectors in the coming months.

Cameron Green was player-of-the-series for his performances at No. 4, looking the ideal make-up for a role that can be required to play in various ways depending on the start. Meanwhile, Mitchell Owen made an immediate impact in the middle-order, having been challenged to develop his game away from the opening slot that has brought him considerable T20 league success.

Tim David produced the performance of the series with his record-breaking 37-ball hundred, batting higher than has often been the case at No. 5, while Josh Inglis settled in at No. 3. With the ball, it's difficult to see how Nathan Ellis does now not command a full-time place in the XI while Ben Dwarshuis had a productive series.

"Depth is a privilege to have, and hopefully we can keep building on that," Australia T20I captain, Mitchell Marsh said. "We saw a lot of guys come in: Mitch Owen, I thought Cam Green was fantastic, Nathan Ellis, again, was outstanding. Everyone played their part. It's going to be a good challenge for us, but we certainly will welcome a few blokes back in."

Travis Head and Josh Hazlewood are expected to return for the series against South Africa which begins in Darwin on August 10, as could Matt Short if he has recovered from the side strain he picked up early in the West Indies tour. Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc will, however, continue to rest ahead of the home summer, so the major calls around the make-up of the pace attack will wait a bit longer.

However, Ellis can't have done any more to lock himself in as a starter, regardless of who is available, having conceded 7.88 runs an over in a series where runs came at 10.23 overall and he regularly closed out innings at the death. Australia did not concede more than 39 in the final four overs.

"He's been our go-to guy," Green told ESPN's Around The Wicket. "And I think he's, real, real close to getting to that main team, if not in it. He's the guy that we probably go to [in the] sixth over in the powerplay, we always know that's so tough, especially when they've been none down at a couple of games. I think he bowls three at the death for us, so he's just doing all the hard roles. He seems to thrive in them. He's got so many tricks up his sleeve, so we're really pleased with how he's going."

Head's return at the top alongside Marsh, who was the one first-choice batter not to make a significant contribution against West Indies, will likely see Glenn Maxwell slip back to the middle-order, where Owen has made a strong start with 125 runs at a strike-rate of 192.30.

"In the last 12 months, [Owen has] done a lot of batting at the top of the order, but we wanted to give him that opportunity to play a finishing role and keep building out his game with guys like Travis Head coming back in," Marsh said. "He was awesome. He's a ripping kid, took on the challenge, didn't seem overawed by the occasion of playing international cricket and seems like a pretty calm figure, so that was great."

Owen contributed 12 of the 64 sixes Australia hit in the series - West Indies struck 53 in what became the second-highest tally for a bilateral T20 series - with this latest iteration of the T20 side shaping as the most powerful yet with no thought of a backwards step. Since the start of 2024, Australia are the fastest-scoring team in T20Is.

"I think the way T20 is going, even again tonight, we were in a little bit of trouble and Tim David came out and batted the way he did," Marsh said at the presentation. "And teams just keep going now. That's the way the game's going."

Perhaps the only question is whether, after the series was wrapped up, Marsh should have taken the opportunity to challenge his side to set a target as he kept winning the toss, but it was never considered. "This outfield was obviously super small and as we saw, it was really hard to defend," he said.

The five wins in West Indies make it eight in a row and 12 from 13 completed matches for Australia since the last World Cup in the Caribbean. Since the beginning of 2024, Australia have won 22 of their 26 completed T20Is, although one of the defeats was the semi-final loss to India in St Lucia.

They have 14 more matches over the next six months, with the three against South Africa next month, followed by three in New Zealand in early October. They will then host India for five as part of their white-ball tour ahead of the Ashes. They then have three matches in Pakistan pencilled in as the final lead-up to the World Cup. If the current form line remains, they will be one of the teams to beat come February in India and Sri Lanka.