Australia all-rounder Mitchell Marsh has been ruled out of the Champions Trophy 2025, less than two weeks before the deadline for sides to confirm their squads.
Marsh is reportedly unlikely to play again this season, and his IPL stint with Lucknow Super Giants is also in doubt.
The 33-year-old has endured a difficult last few months in his career, after losing his Test place to Beau Webster in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He scored 73 runs and averaged 10.42 before he was dropped in the series, and didn't play a significant part with the ball. He was rested from the final three matches of Perth Scorchers' BBL campaign in order to rest his back ahead of the Champions Trophy, but has been unable to recover from the injury in time for the tournament.
A statement from Cricket Australia read: "Mitchell Marsh has been ruled out of the upcoming ICC Men's Champion's Trophy with ongoing lower back pain and dysfunction. The National Selection Panel and Australian men's medical team ruled Marsh out of the tournament with the injury which has not responded sufficiently to rehabilitation
"His lower back pain flared in recent weeks leading the NSP to make the longer term decision for Marsh to complete a more extended period of rehabilitation. Marsh will now undergo a period of further rest and rehabilitation as part of his return to play plan. The NSP will meet to decide on a replacement for Marsh in due course."
Find all Champions Trophy 2025 team news and injury updates here
With Marsh ruled out, Australia will now have to change their top order plans for the tournament. Marsh has batted in the top three for Australia for the last two years, and played a crucial role in Australia's 2023 World Cup win. Potential replacements for him in the squad include Jake Fraser-McGurk, who has been an explosive breakout T20 batter over the last year but has only batted in 22 List A matches.
The other option Australia have to replace Marsh is to re-organise their batting order to promote one of their current middle-order to open, and adding cover in the middle. They could look to Will Sutherland for this, who missed out on Australia's tour of England last year with his own back injury.
Captain Pat Cummins is also a doubt for the tournament as he continued to recover from an ankle injury he picked up in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Potential captaincy replacements if Cummins is unable to play in the tournament include Steve Smith and Travis Head.
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