AFP
Sydney, Australia
Fast bowler Mitchell Starc and all-rounder Mitchell Marsh will miss the third one-day international against Pakistan in Perth on Thursday, Cricket Australia said.
Australia's leading strike bowler needs a rest while Marsh has been carrying a shoulder injury. Starc will re-join the squad in Sydney for the fourth match in the five-leg series.
"Mitchell has had a very big six months and played a significant amount of cricket," said interim national selector Trevor Hohns. "We needed to find an opportunity to give him a break and with his schedule in the comings months we believe now is the appropriate time to give him a match off."
Marsh has been managing his shoulder but can't keep going any longer, said physiotherapist David Beakley. "It is now at a point where he is unable to function at the level required. He now requires a period of rest and rehabilitation in order to return to full fitness," Beakley said.
Marsh, aged 25, will miss the rest of the ODI series but was named in Australia's 16-man squad to tour India next month and hopes to recover in time. New batsman Chris Lynn has also been ruled out of the Perth match with an ongoing neck injury but hopes to be fit for the rest of the series. Selectors added middle order batsman Peter Handscomb to the ODI squad while a replacement for Marsh will be announced in due course.
Pakistan beat Australia by six wickets in the second one-dayer at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday, their first ODI win on Australian soil for 12 years. The victory was also Pakistan's first ODI win at the MCG since 1985 and levelled the series at 1-1.
