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The Australian selectors and the team management have come under scrutiny from former players over an in-form Steve Smith’s exclusion from T20 World Cup 2026 squad. Smith made a late entry as Mitchell Marsh’s cover and eventually replaced an injured Josh Hazlewood. But, as Australia’s qualification was dependent on the clash against Sri Lanka, they opted not to include Smith. Following the team’s exit, selector Tony Dodemaide said that Smith wasn’t part of the side as they had their opening combination sorted already with Marsh returning.
"He was only really available for game three," said Dodemaide, "which was the game that we had our best performed pairing, which is (Mitchell) Marsh and (Travis) Head, who did extremely well.
"If we got more moving parts and we had to think of things differently, then that's a different story, but certainly now Steve still retains his place as cover for that opening position."
Dodemaide defends Green
Dodemaide was partially correct as Head and Marsh went on to score half-centuries. But, Australia failed to use the perfect platform for a big score. In addition his comments indicate that they didn’t consider Smith for a no.3 role either. He defended Cameron Green who failed to live up to the expectations.
“His record has been very, very good for us in 2025 (he averaged 43 across eight T20Is matches), and pre-tournament in Pakistan he was our best batter,” Dodemaide said.
“Cam’s still developing his game across all formats and that needs to be balanced with what he can do physically.
“He’s a very fine player who is important for us in all formats, but in terms of nuancing his commitments from time-to-time we’ll look at that in more depth as part of the wider review.”
Review of Australia’s poor campaign soon
Australia are out of the Super 8 race but they still have a game to play against Oman on February 20. Dodemaide assured that there will be a review of Australia’s dismal show in Sri Lanka.
"But we will need some time, and take some time, once we finish our last commitment - it's important that we finish strongly on Friday against Oman - then we'll get back and analyse it fully," he added.
It is yet to be seen whether Smith and Matt Renshaw get a chance against Oman. Renshaw was surprisingly benched for the Sri Lanka game despite a half-century against Zimbabwe.
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