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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.<\/p>\n
Mitchell Marsh has captained the ODI team in Cummins\u2019 absence from the 50-over format, and guided the tourists to a 3-0 win in Zimbabwe last week<\/a>.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Australia’s captain Pat Cummins speaks with Mitchell Marsh during the 2023 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup ODI final match between India and Australia at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on November 19, 2023.Source: AFP<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve spent a lot of time with one another over 10-plus years,\u201d Starc said.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s probably dripped into the captaincy discussion as well, where they\u2019re two very close mates who think similarly about the game (as) quite relaxed characters.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery time (Marsh) has had to take on the captaincy role in white-ball cricket, he\u2019s been up to task \u2013 he\u2019s got great respect from the group, and a guy you want to play for and play with.<\/p>\n \u201cSo if Pat decides not to captain in the games he plays here \u2013 I\u2019m not sure, that\u2019s for those two to work out. They\u2019re both different in some of the ways they approach the captaincy, but ultimately they\u2019re very similar in their calmness and what they\u2019re looking to achieve.\u201d<\/p>\n Mitchell Marsh and Pat Cummins of Australia celebrate winning game two of Men’s T20 International series between New Zealand and Australia at Eden Park on February 23, 2024 in Auckland, New Zealand. (Photo by Hannah Peters\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n McDonald and Australia\u2019s chairman of selectors George Bailey have made clear on several occasions that Cummins is their first-choice captain for next year\u2019s ODI World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.<\/p>\n But for the time being, they will continue to be flexible with who tosses the coin and runs the show on game day.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a nice little duo. It\u2019s working well for us, and they\u2019re not territorial around it,\u201d McDonald said of Cummins and Marsh.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d like to say that\u2019s a strength. Some people would say that that can create some instabilities. There\u2019s no doubt it could create some instabilities if it didn\u2019t function at the level that we\u2019re able to with the handover from captain to captain internally.<\/p>\n \u201cSo we\u2019re 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.\u201d<\/p>\n READ MORE<\/p>\n \ufeff\u2018Open-minded\u2019: Aussie duo in frame for Test shake-up; Proteas\u2019 update on villain<\/a><\/p>\n \ufeff\u2018S***, this is real\u2019: Aussie skipper bares all on shock promotion\u2026 and iconic Warnie tribute<\/a><\/p>\n