Australia’s T20I captain Mitchell Marsh has confirmed that he and the dynamic opener Travis Head, currently ranked ICC No. 2 in T20I batting, will remain the team’s opening pair leading up to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026.
Following Australia’s dominant 5-0 whitewash of the West Indies in last month’s T20I series, the team will welcome back several familiar faces, including Travis Head, for their upcoming three-match series against South Africa starting Sunday, 10 August.
“It’ll be myself and Heady [Travis Head] up the top for the foreseeable future,” Marsh told reporters.
“Obviously, we’ve played a lot together, (we’ve) got a great relationship, so (we’ll) start there.”
Although Marsh and Head have yet to open together in T20Is, their partnership in ODIs has been impressive, scoring 282 runs from just five innings at an outstanding average of 70.50.
Overall, the duo has amassed 504 runs in 14 innings across formats, averaging 38.76 with one century and three half-centuries to their name.
Marsh’s move to No. 3 ahead of the 2021 T20 World Cup was widely praised, as he scored 185 runs in five matches, including a Player of the Final performance, helping Australia claim their first T20 World Cup title.
He led Australia at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, where the team was eliminated in the Super Eights stage. Marsh scored 125 runs in seven matches during that tournament.
The 33-year-old has embraced the opening role, having opened in all five matches against the West Indies last month. Although his recent form yielded 81 runs across five games, he remains confident in the role.
Since David Warner’s retirement after last year’s T20 World Cup, Australia has experimented with several openers including Matt Short, Glenn Maxwell, and Jake Fraser-McGurk.
However, the Marsh-Head combination looks set to be the team’s foundation as they prepare for next year’s marquee tournament.
Marsh also addressed the batting position of powerful hitter Tim David, whose 37-ball century against the West Indies was the fastest by an Australian in T20Is, coming after an early entry at the crease.
“We’ve spoken about it. We saw that in the Caribbean, that he came in earlier than he would normally,” Marsh added.
“His skill set is made for that. The more balls he faces, hopefully the more games he wins us.”
Australia T20I squad to face South Africa:
Mitchell Marsh (c), Sean Abbott, Tim David, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matt Kuhnemann, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Owen, Matthew Short, Adam Zampa
