The first warmup match for Australia in the Twenty20 World Cup began in unusual circumstances as the team could only field nine squad members instead of the required 11 against Namibia. Despite the shortage of players, Australia won the match comfortably at Trinidad’s Queen’s Park Oval.
Two other T20 tournament warmup matches in England and Dallas, Texas were washed out earlier in the day. This was due to a lack of available players as six World Cup squad members were given time off after their Indian Premier League duties.
Chief selector George Bailey and fielding coach Andre Borovec had to take the field to make up the numbers. Bailey, a former international cricketer, and Borovec, a former wicketkeeper, joined on the field by other coaches when captain Mitch Marsh and Josh Hazlewood had to spend time off.
Hazlewood commented that it was good for the players to get some match practice after a long break, despite not having a full team available for the warmup match. Despite this setback, Australia was able to win comfortably with David Warner leading from the front with his 54 not out performance. The T20 World Cup is set to begin on Saturday and will be held in the United States and the Caribbean.
