(Reuters) – Australia will be without Mitchell Marsh for their World Cup game against England this week after the all-rounder returned home to Perth for personal reasons, the country’s cricket board said on Thursday.
Cricket Australia said a timeline on Marsh’s return to the squad “is to be confirmed” and it was not immediately clear if a replacement player would be called up to the squad should his absence be prolonged.
The five-times champions face holders England in Ahmedabad on Saturday before pool stage encounters against Afghanistan and Bangladesh later this month.
Australia are third in the table after six matches as they look to shore up their position for a semi-final spot.
The news of Marsh’s unavailability comes after fellow all-rounder Glenn Maxwell was ruled out of the England match due to concussion after he fell off a golf cart this week.
All-rounder Marcus Stoinis is set to return to the line-up after shaking off a calf problem while Cameron Green is likely to step in for Marsh.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)
