Why Steve Smith was left out of Australia's T20 World Cup squad

Steve Smith won’t feature in the T20 World Cup (Picture: Getty)

Selector George Bailey has explained why Steve Smith has been left out of Australia’s 15-man T20 World Cup squad.

Australia named their provisional squad for the tournament on Wednesday but there was no place for star batter Smith.

Teams have until May 25 to update their squads but it appears unlikely that Smith, 34, will be offered a reprieve.

‘I think his best T20 work of late has come at the top of the order, and at the moment, we see that top order being really settled,’ Cricket Australia selector Bailey said.

‘I still think he’s got an enormous amount of good cricket left ahead of him, across what formats, I think that’s as much up for him to decide.

‘I know he still loves playing T20 cricket – he’s going to play some MLC later this year – so that’s still an itch that he’d like to scratch.

‘We’ve had a handful of players, probably more than some other countries, that have been multi-format for a long, long period of time, and it’s natural that some of those will start to drop off.’

Australia’s T20 World Cup squad

Mitch Marsh (c), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa

Smith has an underwhelming T20 international record, scoring 1,094 runs in 67 matches at an average of 25 and a strike-rate of 125.

In Tests, he is considered one of the best players of his generation, amassing almost 10,000 runs at an average of 57, with 32 centuries and 41 fifties.

Australia will be led at the T20 World Cup, which takes places in the Caribbean and United States in June, by all-rounder Mitchell Marsh.

‘It’s been an immense privilege to play for my country and now an even greater honour to lead the squad to a World Cup,’ said Marsh.

‘We have had some strong success in recent times and I am hopeful that will continue in what looks like a wide-open tournament.’

Australia, who lifted their sole T20 World Cup trophy in 2021, begin their campaign on June 6 against Oman. The 50-over champions will also face defending champions England, Scotland and Namibia as they attempt to progress from Group B.

Mitchell Marsh will captain Australia at the T20 World Cup (Picture: Getty)

‘Being constrained to a squad of 15 for World Cups is always a challenge given the different scenarios and options we’d like to cover,’ Bailey added.

‘We will continue monitoring several players who have missed out on this preliminary squad and note that if we wish to change this squad, we have the option to do so over the coming weeks in accordance with ICC regulations.’

While Smith was left out, Australia’s squad includes a number of high-profile players including Pat Cummins, Travis Head, David Warner and Mitchell Starc.

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