Australia has called up West Australian star Ashton Turner after Mitchell Marsh fell ill, ruling him out of the series-opening ODI against India on Saturday.
Marsh reportedly has gastritis and has spent the past two days in hospital. Coach Justin Langer confirmed on Wednesday the big-hitting all-rounder will miss the clash against the Indians at the SCG.
It continues a horror couple of days for Marsh, who was axed from the Test squad for the upcoming two-match series against Sri Lanka after an underwhelming effort when he was promoted to the starting XI for the Boxing Day Test match.
He scored nine and 10 in the third Test against India before making way for Peter Handscomb, who was recalled to the side for the final Test in Sydney.
Marsh — whose brother Shaun was also dumped from the Test squad along with Handscomb and Aaron Finch — was selected in the ODI squad but misses out on a chance to impress first up ahead of this year’s World Cup in England.
Turner, who plays state cricket with Western Australia and for the Scorchers in Twenty20, has scored 43 not out, 47 and 60 not out in his past three Big Bash League matches. Turner has captained WA and the Perth Scorchers in Marsh’s absence when he’s been on national duty, and was coached by Langer when he was at the helm of the state before taking charge of the Australian team.
Revised squad: Aaron Finch (capt), Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb, Glenn Maxwell, Ashton Turner, Marcus Stoinis, Mitch Marsh, Alex Carey, Jhye Richardson, Billy Stanlake, Jason Behrendorff, Peter Siddle, Nathan Lyon, and Adam Zampa.
