Mitchell Marsh puts bowling on backburner ahead of T20I series against England

London: Australia captain Mitchell Marsh is not expected to bowl in the three-match T20I series against arch-rivals England.

Marsh will remain focused solely on his role as a batter in the T20I series, given Australia's wealth of bowling and all-rounder options against England.

Marsh hasn't bowled in international cricket since suffering a hamstring tear during his time in the Indian Premier League (IPL) earlier this year.

The Australian squad is packed with all-round talent, including Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie and Marcus Stoinis for seam bowling, while Travis Head and Cooper Connolly add spin-bowling variety.

"I'm sort of just building," Marsh said. "I don't tend to bowl myself too much, is the honest answer, and we're lucky that we've got plenty of bowling options within our team, so we'll see how we go. My bowling's on line: whether or not I bowl, we'll wait and see. We've got heaps of options. I'm always building something."

Australia's T20I captain didn't bowl during the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 in the USA and the West Indies, where the team was eliminated in the Super 8 stage.

The recently concluded T20I series against Scotland marked Australia's first appearance in the shortest format since that major tournament.

The visitors dominated the series, chasing down 156 in under 10 overs in the first T20I, posting a formidable 196 in the second game and comfortably reaching the target of 150 in just 16.1 overs in the third match, completing a 3-0 clean sweep over Scotland.

Reflecting on Australia's exit from the T20 World Cup following defeats to Afghanistan and India, Marsh remarked, "It feels like a lifetime ago now, that T20 World Cup.

“It was just disappointment: we went there with the hope of winning it, like every other team did, and unfortunately, we didn't play our best cricket at the right time. In tournament play, that's what you rely on…there's a lot of cricket to be played between now and the next World Cup in 2026 but hopefully I'm there," he added.

Australia will take on England in a T20I series, starting September 11 in Southampton.