Mitchell Marsh confirms he is 'not in race' for Australia's ODI captaincy

Australia all-rounder Mitchell Marsh has confirmed that he is not in the race to become the country's next ODI skipper.

While Aaron Finch is still Australia's T20I captain, his retirement from the 50-over format has opened up the position of the national team's ODI captain. Cricket Australia has been delaying announcing Finch's successor.

The 30-year-old Marsh, who has plenty of domestic captaincy experience under his belt, having led both Western Australia and Perth Scorchers, has been considered one of the contenders for the ODI captaincy role. But Marsh has ended the rumours by saying "captaincy is not on my radar at the moment."

"Probably not to be honest, I'm out of the race. I've had to get the body right for this World Cup. The World Cup is such an exciting prospect for all of us, to worry about that sort of stuff [captaincy] is just not on my radar at the moment.

"Cricket Australia has a decision to make after the World Cup...it's really not something I've thought about," Marsh said on Tuesday, according to ESPNCricinfo.

Marsh, whose career has been marred with injuries, had the best year of his cricketing life in 2021, when he finished as Australia's leading run-scorer in the T20Is with 627 runs in 21 games, including six fifties, at an average of 36.88 and strike rate of close to 130. He was a vital figure in the Australian side that won the T20 World Cup in 2021, which was the country's maiden title in the shortest format.

With the 50-over World Cup just a year away, one name that has been doing the rounds for Australia's ODI captaincy is David Warner. However, the veteran batsman is still facing a life-long ban from any kind of leadership role from Cricket Australia. Recent reporters have suggested that the national board could lift the ban in the coming months.

David Warner is a 'great leader': Mitchell Marsh

When Marsh was asked if he'd endorse Warner for the job, the Western Australian cricketer said that he prefers to 'steer clear of all those conversations' but insisted that the southpaw is a 'great leader'.

"He's a great leader among our group. As far as all the decisions go, I certainly steer clear of all those conversations. But he's a great man to have in the squad," added Marsh.

Marsh recently missed Australia's ODI series against New Zealand and T20Is in India due to an ankle injury. While he has just returned to the side, the 30-year-old cricketer is still not 100% fit and is featuring in the team as a specialist batsman.

The Perth Scorchers star confirmed that he's hoping to get back to bowling in a week or so, around the time when the Aussies play their T20WC warm-up fixtures.

"The body's feeling good at this stage. Hopefully, I'll be right to bowl in the first warm-up game but with Stoin [Marcus Stoinis] back bowling now, it's a bit of luxury we can work as a team and really build towards the World Cup," said Marsh.

If Marsh returns to bowling that would take Australia's tally of bowlers to seven, four specialist bowlers, along with three all-rounders (Marsh, Marcus Stoinis, and Glenn Maxwell).

Marsh went on to say that the reigning champions are blessed to boast such flexibility ahead of the upcoming edition of the T20 World Cup.

"We're going to get four overs out of us; some days it's me, some days Stoin, and some days Maxi [Glenn Maxwell]. The best T20 teams in the world over the last five, six years, have that flexibility...we're almost a team within a team," the all-rounder added further.

Australia are a part of Group 1 in the Super 12s, along with New Zealand, England, and Afghanistan.

Finch and Co are scheduled to begin their title defense on Oct. 22 when they lock horns against BlackCaps at Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG).