Going into the Champions Trophy 2025 Australia will be out of its frontline pace bowling attack in Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, and Josh Hazlewood. The side will now have to contend with an inexperienced quarter of seam bowlers in Sean Abbott, Spencer Johnson, Ben Dwarshuis, and Nathan Ellis.
However, skipper Steven Smith is confident that he will be able to get the best out of the attack he has and the key to that is getting them bowling at the right phases of the games.
“They all do it differently, Ben Dwarshius and Spencer Johnson up-top trying to swing the ball back down the line. Sean (Abbott) has terrific lengths, Nathan Ellis has change-ups,” Steven Smith said speaking to the ICC. “I think they’ve all got their own unique skills,” he said. “For me, captaining them, it’s about me communicating with them and trying to get the right option out of them at the right time.”
“Yeah, we’ve got a couple of spinners as well with (Adam) Zampa and Tanveer (Sangha), who’s got a good skill set,” he said. “(In) Maxwell and Short, we’ve got plenty of part-time options.” he added.
Power hitter Jake Fraser-McGurk has been included in the 15-man squad and may replace Marsh at number three in the batting, with Matt Short and Travis Head likely to open. “He’s obviously a very aggressive player. He’s got all the shots around the ground,” Smith said. “It’s just about picking the right time to play them Smith said on McGurk.
Australia Champions Trophy 2025 final squad: Steve Smith (capt), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Aaron Hardie Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Matthew Short, Adam Zampa.
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