Alarm bells are ringing for Australia heading into the T20 World Cup. Form, fitness and signs that the men’s side is falling behind the big-hitting leading nations in the format are mounting concerns. But whether supporters beyond the most ardent fans can hear them – or choose to be stirred enough to tune in – is set to be tested. The tournament in India and Sri Lanka will be played out of sight and out of mind for many in Australia, while even the keenest cricket tragics must be feeling the effects of T20 World Cup fatigue.
Amid an increasingly cluttered cricket calendar, this will be the fourth men’s T20 global showpiece in less than four-and-a-half years. That of course comes down to the riches that it brings to the event organiser – and global governing body – the International Cricket Council, and in turn the nations taking part. Still, there is always room for more.
The 2026 T20 World Cup has been expanded to 20 teams – and 55 matches – for the first time in a boon for cricket’s emerging nations. But the bloated format also gives casual followers reason to wait until the stakes rise before tuning in for the Super Eight stage and cut-throat finals that will follow.
Fans in Australia still need to plan ahead, with this tournament part of the ICC’s deal for all of its events through to 2027 to be broadcast across the country exclusively on Amazon’s Prime Video. The start times for most of Australia’s matches are another, more familiar, inconvenience, at least for those watching from the east coast where the first ball will be bowled at 12.30am AEDT in almost all matches and most notably the knockout stages.
Whether Australia’s campaign can run that deep into the tournament is far from certain. The cricket powerhouse has mostly underwhelmed in T20 World Cups, only reaching the semi-finals once since 2012 – when they pulled off multiple heists to lift the trophy in Dubai in 2021. The side’s recent form has been far from convincing with defeats in the past five T20s including in all three warmup matches on spinning decks in Pakistan.
Australia were admittedly under strength as they suffered their heaviest T20 loss during the past week, but even with the likes of Glenn Maxwell to return for the World Cup the squad lacks star power. Pat Cummins has been ruled out of the tournament as he continues to recover from a back injury, while Josh Hazlewood is a late omission due to an ongoing achilles complaint. Steve Smith’s absence is harder to grasp as not even a scorching post-Ashes BBL cameo was enough to force his way into what is now a 14-player squad that has one place to fill.
Travis Head, Cameron Green and Josh Inglis are the only players who played a part in the Ashes triumph over England and return for this tournament, as the lack of top-tier Test talent follows a familiar theme. Australia have increasingly used white-ball matches outside of World Cups as an opportunity to blood the next generation, with eight of the 18 players given T20 international caps since the side won their first and only World Cup now part of the current squad.
Injury clouds continue to hover with crafty white-ball bowler Nathan Ellis yet to play since sitting out the BBL finals with a hamstring concern, while Adam Zampa has had to overcome a groin issue to be available for the group stage. The leg-spinner will again be critical to Australia’s World Cup hopes, this time alongside fellow tweakers Cooper Connolly and Matt Kuhnemann with all four of the side’s group stage matches to be played in Sri Lanka.
Australia’s attack is naturally less threatening without Cummins, Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc, but the strength now lies in their batting and long list of allrounders. As average strike rates for most national teams begin to pass nine runs an over, Australia have heavy hitters running through the order from Head and captain Mitch Marsh as openers, to Marcus Stoinis and Maxwell as they return for another shot at T20 glory.
Maxwell will be especially important to how Australia handle the turning decks, even after a poor BBL campaign from the 37-year-old that suggested the end is nigh. But it is another middle-order powerhouse in Tim David who carries much of Australia’s hopes. The 29-year-old averaged 49.37 and scored at a strike-rate of 197.50 in 14 T20Is last year, though he is another set to be eased into the tournament after being sidelined with a hamstring strain late in the BBL season.
Australia begin their T20 World Cup against Ireland on 11 February out of touch and with a point to prove. The 2021 champions have shown in the past that they can put a run of bad form and lingering doubts behind them to flick a switch once a white-ball tournament starts, most memorably at the 2023 Cricket World Cup when they lost their opening two matches before winning the next nine and stunning India in the final.
The surplus of T20 World Cups might raise fair questions over how much this means to players and fans. But gatecrashing another India party at Narendra Modi Stadium might just be enough to inspire the likes of Marsh, Maxwell and Stoinis to pass the baton to the next generation before the caravan rolls on to the next tournament on home turf in 2028.
