Captain Mitch Marsh will be fit to bowl against Bangladesh in a boost for Australia as they prepare to enter the next phase of the Twenty20 World Cup.
Burly allrounder Marsh did not take the ball at any point during the group stage as he managed the right hamstring injury that curtailed his IPL stint with Delhi Capitals.
The injury meant that across their four victories Australia looked to Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis as part-time bowling options, with the latter particularly impressive.
Tim David and Travis Head are also able to bowl handy spin overs but have not yet been required, with legspinner Adam Zampa collecting eight scalps as Australia’s leading wicket-taker so far.
Marsh bowled to Australia’s batters two days before the first Super 8 clash against Bangladesh.
The skipper is hopeful his medium pace won’t be required in Antigua on Friday (AEST), but was grateful to have another option in the mix.
“I’ll be available to bowl,” Marsh said.
“I actually physically feel good. It’s always nice to have a bit of a break from bowling, I often joke about that.
“With the line-up that we’ve got, I don’t really necessarily see a need for me to bowl, but I think it’s really important in this format to have options, and we’re blessed with plenty of those.”
Correcting a sloppy last-start fielding performance will be high on the to-do list as Australia look to book a spot in the knockout stage by finishing in the top two of their Super 8 group.
Australia dropped six catches during the final group stage match against a plucky Scotland, but managed to eke out victory in the final over in St Lucia.
“It was obviously not our best effort in the field,” Marsh said.
“I think I dropped three of the catches so I take the brunt of that. But I think the thing we speak about is that we’ve got a lot of trust in our group.
“We had an off night in the field and this group loves to stand up in big moments and they all start now. I’ve got a lot of trust in the group.”
Marsh played the finest innings of his ODI career when Australia last met Bangladesh in white-ball cricket during the victorious World Cup campaign in India last year.
The 32-year-old says he will take little from his unbeaten 177 into Sir Vivian Richards Stadium this week, despite expected similarities in the Bangladeshi XI.
“It’s a fond memory, but this is a different format in a different country and pretty different conditions,” he said.