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Snubbed from Australia's T20 World Cup 2026 squad, chief selector George Bailey has kept the door ajar from pace-bowling all-rounder Sean Abbott. The pacer was not preferred as Pat Cummins returned and Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis were preferred over him. Abbott's injury right before the Ashes 2025-26 in a Sheffield Shield game did him no favours. But, the pacer revealed his conversation with Bailey, revealing that he has asked him to be ready for everything.
"George (Bailey) rang me and his messaging was basically, 'Be ready, in case there are some moving parts'," Abbott told AAP.
"Guys have got to get back and get fit. I'm ready to go, I feel like I'm bowling pretty well at the minute.
"A few cobwebs still to get out, maybe pick up a couple of k's of air speed a little bit, but I'm ready to go. The thing I've learned at this level over the last however many years is things can happen last minute.
"Be ready, you never know what happens."
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Australia named a few players in the squad who are yet to regain full fitness. This list includes Cummins and Tim David. Also, Josh Hazlewood is yet to bowl in the ongoing Big Bash League (BBL) after recovering from a couple of injuries that ruled him out of the entire Ashes 2025-26.
Abbott’s last T20I appearance
Abbott's last T20I appearance was against India in Hobart. In 3.3 overs, he conceded 56 runs as India chased down 187 with five wickets in hand in the penultimate over. Before that, Abbott claimed three wickets for 25 runs against New Zealand in a winning cause.
Abbott’s T20 numbers in India and Sri Lanka
Australia's all group stage matches are in Sri Lanka. Abbott has never played a T20I on Sri Lankan soil. He did play three T20Is in India and managed to take just one wicket. His economy rate was disappointing at 14.04 runs per over.
In IPL 2015, he was part of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and remained wicketless from two games. Seven years later, he played just one game for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). He got the wicket of current Australian captain Mitchell Marsh who was part of Delhi Capitals (DC) then. But, he ended up conceding 47 runs from four overs.
Overall, he has 33 wickets from 28 T20Is at an average of 24.90, including a four-fer. His economy rate is on the higher side at 9.27 runs per over.
Australia’s T20 World Cup 2026 squad:
Mitchell Marsh (c), Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Pat Cummins, Tim David, Cameron Green, Nathan Ellis, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Short, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa.
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