Australia captain Mitch Marsh has confirmed that fast bowler Nathan Ellis is fit and available for the 2026 T20 World Cup opener against Ireland in Colombo on Wednesday, February 11. However, Marsh also revealed that Tim David will miss Ireland’s game as he is still recovering from a hamstring strain.

Australia will be the last of the 20 teams to participate in the T20 World Cup. Some full member nations already face tough challenges from affiliated teams during the World Cup. However, United failed to cause any chaos in the grand event.

We’ll definitely see him back in contention – Mitchell Marsh on Tim David

Mitch Marsh said before the game that Tim David would not return to the squad for the World Cup opener. Marsh added that as David continues to recover, he will be back in contention over the next few games.

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“We’ll definitely see him get back into contention over the next few games,” Marsh said in his pre-match press conference.

Tim David continues recovery ahead of Australia’s busy World Cup schedule

Tim David is recovering from a hamstring injury he sustained during the Big Bash League in December. He has not played since Boxing Day, when he suffered an injury while batting for the Hobart Hurricanes.

The 29-year-old has joined the Australian squad in Colombo but there is no firm date for his return to action. David has been training intensively with the T20 squad since arriving in Sri Lanka last week.

Tim David has taken part in batting sessions at every Australia training session in Colombo and, apart from one optional batting session, has also completed a number of running and fielding drills, including a full sprint between the wickets in match kit on Tuesday.

Nathan Ellis has been cleared to play and will spearhead the attack in the T20 World Cup. Australia will go to the World Cup without Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood or Pat Cummins for the first time since 2011.

Hazlewood is out with an Achilles injury, Cummins is out with a back problem and Starc has retired from T20 internationals. Mitchell Marsh said the team remains confident in its depth because everyone has played.

“Players like Benny Dwarshuis and Xavier Bartlett have played in almost all of our games over the last 12 months, so we’re very confident they can make a difference for us,” Marsh said.

“We’ve put together a squad of about 18 to 20 people who have played over the past 12 months and we’ve given everyone game time.”

“They all face different situations in their games and while some of them haven’t played a lot of games for Australia, they’ve played a lot of cricket and we have full confidence in the group we have here.”

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