Zimbabwe v Australia 3rd ODI Highlights | 15:37
Dane Heverin from Fox SportsSeptember 23rd, 2026 10:38 am
Pat Cummins is about to play his first ODI in nearly two years, but for the first time since taking the reigns after Aaron Finch’s retirement in 2022, he may not skipper the Australians.
Cummins joined the ODI squad ahead of Thursday’s series opener against South Africa in Durban, but all indications from Tuesday’s training session were that Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood will play the first ODI, while Cummins features later in the series.
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Starc and Hazlewood went through their paces, while the Test skipper was largely confined to chats with Australian coach Andrew McDonald.
Mitchell Marsh has captained the ODI team in Cummins’ absence from the 50-over format, and guided the tourists to a 3-0 win in Zimbabwe last week.
Now with Cummins likely to play just one of, or both of, the second and third ODIs against the Proteas, Marsh may hang on to the captaincy duties for the series.
In an interview on Tuesday, Starc said a decision had not yet been made, but Cummins playing underneath Marsh – as he has did in the lead up to and during the 2024 T20 World Cup – was a possibility.
“They’ve spent a lot of time with one another over 10-plus years,” Starc said.
“That’s probably dripped into the captaincy discussion as well, where they’re two very close mates who think similarly about the game (as) quite relaxed characters.
“Every time (Marsh) has had to take on the captaincy role in white-ball cricket, he’s been up to task – he’s got great respect from the group, and a guy you want to play for and play with.
“So if Pat decides not to captain in the games he plays here – I’m not sure, that’s for those two to work out. They’re both different in some of the ways they approach the captaincy, but ultimately they’re very similar in their calmness and what they’re looking to achieve.”
McDonald and Australia’s chairman of selectors George Bailey have made clear on several occasions that Cummins is their first-choice captain for next year’s ODI World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
But for the time being, they will continue to be flexible with who tosses the coin and runs the show on game day.
“It’s a nice little duo. It’s working well for us, and they’re not territorial around it,” McDonald said of Cummins and Marsh.
“I’d like to say that’s a strength. Some people would say that that can create some instabilities. There’s no doubt it could create some instabilities if it didn’t function at the level that we’re able to with the handover from captain to captain internally.
“So we’re proud of that being the case for this group. The ability to, if someone steps out, you then get into a supporting role, and the other person leads, then when you come back, that person then supports you.”
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First ODI: September 24, Kingsmead Stadium, Durban, 6pm AEST (10am local)
Second ODI: September 27, Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg, 6pm AEST (10am local)
Third ODI: September 30, JB Marks Oval, Potchefstroom, 9:30pm AEST (D/N, 1:30pm local)
Australia ODI squad: Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Marsh, Xavier Bartlett, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Joel Davies, Jack Edwards, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Oliver Peake, Matthew Renshaw, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa
South Africa ODI squad: Temba Bavuma (c), Corbin Bosch, Matthew Breetzke, Gerald Coetzee, Quinton de Kock, Tony de Zorzi, Bjorn Fortuin, Duan Jansen, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kwena Maphaka, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Nqobani Mokoena, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs
Source: www.foxsports.com.au
