One key decision Australia must make is who should partner with Travis Head at the top.
Australia are having an interesting time in T20Is, with several all-rounders capable of doing various roles available to choose from. While that is a good headache to have, the team management will be forced to make a few tough calls, which should be prudent. With so many options, they can get it severely wrong and fail to utilise the sources properly.
One key decision they must make is who should partner with Travis Head at the top, and the captain, Mitchell Marsh, has cleared the air. Ahead of the first T20I against South Africa, Marsh confirmed that he will continue to open after performing the role in the recently concluded West Indies series. That means Australia have opted for continuity.
“It’ll be me and Heady up the top for the foreseeable future. Obviously, we’ve played a lot together, (we’ve) got a great relationship, so (we’ll) start there.”
If we look at the squad for the upcoming South Africa series, Australia have Matthew Short, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, and Mitchell Owen as the main openers. Josh Inglis, Cameron Green, and Glenn Maxwell have occasionally also performed this role. So, Australia had ample options to choose from.
Assuming Head is an automatic opener, Australia have five options to choose from, mainly three. Short has had opportunities at the top but couldn’t score runs as consistently as he would have wanted, even though he scored quickly. Meanwhile, Owen has played as an opener in a few T20 leagues, but batted in the middle order for Australia, and the team wants him to continue in that role.
Inglis has played only two innings as an opener for Australia, but he can be a solid option. He has 1414 runs at an average of 30.08 and a 152.04 strike rate in 50 T20 innings at the top, comprising nine fifties and two centuries. The majority of Green’s and Maxwell’s innings have been outside the opening spot, and Australia wouldn’t want to have more confusion by asking one of them to open.
During the West Indies series, Australia experimented with Glenn Maxwell as an opener, but he failed to make an impact in the new role. Ideally, he should bat in the middle order and continue doing what he does best – playing impactful knocks. The next T20 World Cup will be in India and Sri Lanka, and spinners will play a crucial part.
Maxwell’s expertise against spinners is better than many others in the squad, and he can take the No.5 or 6 slot according to the requirement. This year, he has struck at 161.90 and has a balls-per-boundary ratio of 4.34 against slow bowlers. 75.88% of his T20 innings have been between No.4 and 6, and Maxwell understands the tempo of batting in the middle order, so there’s no reason to change his position.
Meanwhile, Cameron Green has found ample success in the middle-order role for Australia and was mighty consistent in the last series. While batting at No.4, Green put on a masterclass by showing incredible game awareness and the ability to maintain the rate. Overall, he has 341 runs at an average of 85.25 and a strike rate of 162.38 in eight outings at this slot, including four fifties.
He is capable against pace and spin, but his power against high pace and hard lengths makes him a perfect match for Maxwell, who can struggle against shorter-length deliveries. There are other power-hitters, but Green is better than most. Further, he has stamped his authority with impressive performances in this role.
Overall, Mitchell Marsh has opened in only six innings for Australia and doesn’t boast a terrific record either. He has 98 runs at a tepid average of 16.33 and a strike rate of 128.94, including a best of 24. His best for Australia has come at No.3, where he has 1276 runs at an average of 37.52 and a 142.56 strike rate in 40 innings, including nine fifties.
Still, Marsh should open the innings and partner with Travis Head. He showed his capabilities at the top in IPL 2025, where he had the best-ever season with the willow. He scored 627 runs at an average of 48.23 and a 163.70 strike rate in 13 innings, comprising six fifties and a century.
He is explosive at the top and can maximise the powerplay, as his strike rate of 155.26 and a 4.22 balls-per-boundary ratio in IPL 2025 depict. Further, he showed the expertise to bat long without compromising the scoring rate. He would consistently score 50+ runs and had the appetite for big scores.
Furthermore, he has shared some great partnerships with Head in the past. The two have together played in eight T20Is, scoring 395 runs at an average of 56.42 and a run rate of 12.09. Both are natural openers, and their best comes at the top.
Marsh has always been flexible with his batting position, but IPL 2025 showed he can be more consistent than ever at the top. The sample size in the international arena is small, and it’s not conclusive enough to form an opinion. Nothing suggests why he can’t succeed as an opener for Australia.
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