Australia will face Namibia and West Indies in warm-up matches at Port of Spain's Queens Park Oval next week ahead of the T20 World Cup 2024 but they will not have services of some of their top players due to the Indian Premier League (IPL) playoffs.
Pat Cummins, Travis Head (both Sunrisers Hyderabad), Mitchell Starc (Kolkata Knight Riders), and Cameron Green and Glenn Maxwell (both Royal Challengers Bengaluru) will join the squad in Barbados ahead of Australia's first World Cup match against Oman on June 5.
Up to four of those players, and at least one, will be a part of the IPL final in Chennai on May 26.
"They'll have a staggered entry now that they've made the finals – they'll meet us in Barbados, and the guys who aren't in the IPL finals, will meet us in Trinidad," Australia coach Andrew McDonald told cricket.com.au.
"We're just trying to tailor the best individual preparation and bring it together as a team when we get to Barbados, then we have four or five days there leading into the first game against Oman."
McDonald also confirmed that Marsh was unlikely to bowl in the practice matches as he looks to recover from a hamstring injury.
Earlier on Tuesday, Australia also confirmed their squad for the ICC T20 World Cup 2024.
There are no changes in the preliminary list but Jake Fraser-McGurk and Matt Short have been added as reserves.
The likes of Steve Smith, Jason Behrendorff and Tanveer Sangha failed to make the cut for the event in the West Indies and the USA, which begins on June 1.
Mitchell Marsh will captain the team during the mega event.
Australian chief selector George Bailey said Fraser-McGurk and Short made "compelling cases" for selection.
“As the tournament proceeds, the short turnaround between fixtures makes it challenging to get players in at short notice in the event of injury," Bailey said.
"Matt provides the squad with an all-round skillset option, while Jake provides further batting cover.
“Both players have exciting talents that can add to the squad if needed. If not, the experience will still be valuable in their respective development journeys at international level.”
Australia will start their T20 World Cup campaign against Oman in Barbados on June 5, before Group B matches against England, Namibia and Scotland.
Australia squad
Mitchell Marsh (c), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa
Travelling Reserves: Jake Fraser-McGurk, Matt Short