Australia were forced to field with their support staff in the warm-up match ahead of the T20 World Cup on Tuesday, 28 May. The Mitchell Marsh-led side only had 9 players available in their line-up and needed their coaching staff to step up during their bowling innings.
Australia’s chief selector – former captain George Bailey, head coach Andrew McDonald, fielding coach Andre Borovec and batting coach Brad Hodge took the field for the Australian team. Amongst these four, Bailey (41) and Borovec (46). stayed on the field for the full innings with the ball. Australia were not able to bowl out Namibia despite having them reeling at 50/6 in the 12th over. A strong rearguard action from Zane Green, Malan Kruger and David Wiese saw Namibia get to 119/9 in their 20 overs.
According to cricket.com.au, who were covering the game on the field, Borovec and Bailey were safe with their catching, while McDonald (42) and Hodge (49) moved well for their age.
There were slight concerns with captain Mitchell Marsh, who walked off the field due to a suspected issue with his hamstring, a injury that he has been dealing with since the Indian Premier League.
In the second innings with the bat, Australia made short work of the 120-run target and gunned it down in just 10 overs. David Warner returned to form after a poor IPL 2024 and remained unbeaten at 54 off just 21 balls. Alongside Warner, Tim David played a quick cameo of 23 off 16, while Matthew Wade remained unbeaten at 12 off just 5 balls.
Australia did not have multiple players of their line-up available for the game. Glenn Maxwell, Travis Head, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins were a part of the IPL playoffs and needed time to recover from the intense tournament. Captain Marsh had spoken about the issue and had said that Australia would prioritising the players’ break over the warm-up game.
