Cricket 2026: Mitch Marsh previews Australia ODI tour of Zimbabwe and South Africa, Cricket World Cup, Aussie form, latest news

While Mitch Marsh cannot wait for the hostilities to resume against South Africa later this month, an ODI series against Zimbabwe beginning tomorrow night is crucial for an Australian team seeking to find its identity.

Just over a year out from Australia’s defence of the ODI World Cup it won in remarkable fashion in India in 2023 and the Marsh skippered side considers the white ball series over the next fortnight as a critical part of the puzzle.

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With the next World Cup to be hosted by Zimbabwe, South Africa and Namibia, the Australian captain said the three match series against Zimbabwe this week and the Proteas later in September present an ideal chance to learn from the conditions.

“I think it presents a great opportunity,” he told foxsports.com.au at the SCG last week.

“I’m not sure how many, certainly the younger guys, have actually played much cricket in Zimbabwe and South Africa, and I think one of the good things is that it’s quite similar to the conditions that we face in Australia.

“Albeit it can be a little bit more hostile over there. Certainly, South Africa love playing against Australia, and we love playing against them. So it always provides a great challenge.”

A year out from the defence and the Aussies are a mystery. They have lost five of their past six ODI series and fell to eventual winners India in the Champions Trophy in the United Arab Emirates in 2024/25.

But nor has Australia fielded what shapes as its best team since the famous triumph over India in Ahmedabad in November, 2023 due to scheduling conflicts, a desire to rest the best and boost the experience of newcomers while changing the side over.

As it stands, it seems possible that the premier pace attack of Pat Cummins, Mitch Starc and Josh Hazlewood will next week feature alongside the powerful Marsh for the first time in an ODI since the World Cup final four years ago.

Little wonder Marsh is excited by what lies ahead despite the recent series defeats and the challenges that lie ahead over the next 12 months.

The band looks like getting back together but will it be a one off …

Among the silver linings from the squared Test series against Bangladesh in the Top End in August was the confirmation that the veteran trio of fast bowlers were planning to play at least some one day cricket despite the heavy Test load ahead.

That has incumbents including Nathan Ellis, a superb death bowler, concerned about their own spots in the team with good reason, for when Hazlewood, Starc and Cummins are up and running, it is the world’s best pace attack.

There have been criticism that the Aussie fast bowlers have picked and chosen when they represent the nation in white ball cricket, with the absence in series against Pakistan and Bangladesh a reference, but coach Andrew McDonald said there was a good reason for this.

“I think there’s almost a misconception that the players are sort of picking and choosing as to where they play and which series they play in,” he said.

“These decisions are made around the management of what we have coming up within the schedule, and they don’t choose that. We work with them on it.

“Those players want to play. We just don’t feel like it’s the best time for them to play, fill that extra month up, and then we actually start chasing our tails a little bit as we go into what we know we’ve got coming up. So I just want to dispel that sort of narrative out there around players picking and choosing.”

Before Ellis, who is set to feature against Zimbabwe in Harare on Tuesday, concerns himself too much, there is a reality at stake and that involves the amount of Test cricket ahead, with Marsh well aware of the immediate priorities.

While it is possible the trio will all feature against South African in the ODI series next week, their appearances as a combination will remain sporadic through to the 2027 World Cup with good reason.

As a case in point and with fingers crossed, even if the trio emerge from South Africa unscathed, it would be a significant ask for any of them to play England in November with four Tests against New Zealand and five against India to follow.

“We haven’t played a whole heap of one-day cricket over the last sort of 12 to 18 months,” Marsh said.

“And the (next year), there will be quite a few of our Test guys that will be, I would like to say, unavailable for ODIs with an eye towards what seems like 100 Tests in 12 months for the boys.

“But I think what that provides us is an opportunity to create as much depth as we possibly can, and when we get to the 2027 World Cup, we’ll have hopefully a really big sport to choose from, and it’s great to get some young guys in around our group.”

What about the young guns …

It is not unusual for Marsh and the Aussie selectors to talk about opportunities when it comes to white ball cricket.

Since the World Cup success, several players have been tried and tested, backed and discarded with a view to ensuring the squad is as powerful as possible for the defence in 2027.

Marnus Labuschagne, for example, is the latest to be dropped. Steve Smith is also on the outer in this format, having last played in Dubai in 2025. Glenn Maxwell has retired from ODIs and Matt Short is among those overlooked for this tour.

Among those Marsh is looking forward to watching with excitement are Cooper Connolly, Oliver Peake and Joel Davies, who add youth to an experienced squad that features bowlers to watch including Billy Stanlake and Spencer Johnson.

“They love to get out there and challenge themselves. There are going to be times when we need to be patient with guys like that,” he said of Connolly, but the assessment also works for Peake and Davies.

Australia’s chairman of selectors George Bailey said the decision to include Peake and Davies, in particular, for the series against Zimbabwe and South Africa in preference to the India A tours was one the panel weighed carefully.

It is understandable given the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series beginning in late January, with the prospect that all three may feature depending on form and the circumstances surrounding the Australian team over the next three months.

“For Ollie and Joel, who we rate very highly, it’s another fantastic opportunity and a further chance for them to continue their exposure and growth in the Australian team,” he said.

“It’s always a tricky one. I think (we) touched on this in the past, that the opportunity versus not wanting to take away the opportunity of playing those A-games versus not wanting to take away the opportunity to play international cricket.

“I think the three obvious ones in that boat – Cooper, Ollie and then Joel Davies as well – we discussed even after the South African one-dayers whether there was value in them heading across and continuing to play a bit more white-ball cricket in those one-day games (in India).

“But I think where we land on that (is that) all three of them have had some really good subcontinent exposure of late and have had multiple entries there.”

Marsh also stressed the importance of exposure to international cricket, stating that Connolly would benefit from being part of the South Africa Test tour in October with a view to the future.

“He’s just a ripping young kid. You know, he loves learning and wants to keep getting better. (There are) certain things you can’t really teach, as he’s just not afraid of anything,” he said.

“I’m looking forward to hopefully him getting an opportunity. And if not, just him being around that group will only benefit him moving forward and benefit the team.”

How much of a concern is our recent form …

Australia followed the heroics in 2023 with a whitewash against the West Indies and a win over England in September in 2024. But since then the results have been mixed, at best, in the longer white ball format.

Pakistan won a series in Australia 2-1 and Sri Lanka went unbeaten at home preceding the Champions Trophy, while South Africa won in the series held in the Top End last winter before an Australian win at home against India last year.

But the Aussies were beaten in both ODI series against Bangladesh and Pakistan midway through the year, though Marsh was among those sidelined as the tourists fielded inexperienced sides.

There were questions about Australia’s tactics in some of those series, with an example the pace of scoring midway through the innings.

But Marsh does not believe it is a significant concern and said the results have been understandable given the juggle with the squads.

“Oh look, I think a lot of times it’s conditions based,” he said.

“You look at the Pakistan (and) Bangladesh series; they’re really tough conditions for what was a really young, inexperienced team at times, and they’re only going to be better for that. And those places are really hard to win with your best team available, so I just saw that as an area for growth in our group, and guys getting experience in that.

“We know that in the conditions that we’re going to face in Zimbabwe and South Africa, that we play really good cricket and we sort of understand the brand that we play.

“World Cups are a lot about timing and a bit of luck, as we saw in 2023. But looking forward to what’s going to be a huge build up to that, as I said, there’s so much cricket to be played before then, but the ODI World Cup feels like the pinnacle of the white ball game and certainly we are looking forward to it.”