Injured allrounder Marcus Stoinis returned to the bowling crease on Monday at Trent Bridge as he aims to prove he can still play a part in Australia's World Cup campaign.
Having injured his side against India more than a week ago, time is running out for Stoinis to hold onto his spot in Australia's 15-man squad, with Mitchell Marsh ready and available to replace his state teammate.
Under World Cup playing conditions, Stoinis cannot return to the squad should selectors decide to officially draw a line through him and call up Marsh for the rest of the tournament.
Australia will face Bangladesh in Nottingham on Thursday and Stoinis is doing everything he can to prove his fitness ahead of that match. He bowled four overs at Trent Bridge on Monday — the first time he’s bowled since the India game — and now faces a bigger test at the team’s main training session on Tuesday.
As the sole allrounder in the squad, the absence of Stoinis left Australia with an unbalanced XI for their matches against Pakistan and Sri Lanka, something selectors would be reluctant to repeat heading into the business end of the tournament.
With time running out, Stoinis’ teammates remain hopeful the popular allrounder can keep his World Cup dream alive.
“He had a light bowl today and he’ll have a better run around tomorrow at the main session,” wicketkeeper Alex Carey told RSN. “Mitch Marsh is here as well ready to go and in really good condition.
“Hopefully Marcus gets up. It’s such an important role and he’s done such a great job for Australia over the past 12-18 months as well.”
With selectors keen to give Stoinis every chance to return to full fitness, they took a risk for the matches against Pakistan and Sri Lanka by picking a side with just four frontline bowlers along with off-spinner Glenn Maxwell, who skipper Aaron Finch said last week is “a good part-timer”.
Maxwell impressed in bowling his full allotment of 10 overs against Sri Lanka while Finch chipped in with two overs himself in the win against Pakistan.
But vice-captain Carey indicated Maxwell’s bowling was ideally viewed as a handy sixth option, rather than a frontliner required to bowl 10 overs in every match.
“His bowling is really handy for us, ideally as an option, but not 'we need the 10 overs (from him)’,” he said.
“But we went to him for 10 (against Sri Lanka) and he did such a good job. Even Finch got a wicket against Pakistan, so there’s an option there.
“Maxi is bowling well, but fingers crossed the allrounder comes up.”
