Marcus Stoinis absence "problematic" as Australia seek perfect balance

The side strain he suffered in Australia’s defeat against India on Sunday at The Oval has left Langer and assistant coach Ricky Ponting with a troublesome dilemma

Australia coach Justin Langer has admitted that Marcus Stoinis’ absence due to an injury to his side has left his side with a major concern.

Stoinis, the only seam-bowling allrounder in Australia’s initial 15-man squad, has a key role to play in balancing Australia’s team, batting at six, while also offering a reliable fifth bowling option.

The 29-year-old has often been entrusted with taking responsibility for the death overs with the ball, while his big-hitting ability is much-vaunted.

However, the side strain he suffered in Australia’s defeat against India on Sunday at The Oval has left Langer and assistant coach Ricky Ponting with a troublesome dilemma.

Mitch Marsh, who has signed up to represent Glamorgan in this year’s T20 Blast, has been flown into the UK early in order to act as cover for Stoinis, but World Cup rules mean Marsh can only play if Stoinis is withdrawn from the party for the duration of the tournament.

Thus, Australia went into their win at Taunton over Pakistan with Glenn Maxwell as the side’s fifth bowling option.

After Sarfraz Ahmed’s team took the attack to the part-time off-spinner in the knowledge of Australia’s dearth of other available options, captain Aaron Finch was forced to bring himself into the attack.

"We'll have to work it out, but it certainly makes it more problematic not having an allrounder in there,” Langer told reporters of Stoinis’ absence.

"We've talked a bit about it, but we'll just see how he pulls up over the next few days. We know that it's important to have an all-rounder in the side if we can and if we can't we've got to adapt but we'll just have to see how he pulls up.”

^{Stoinis suffered the injury during Australia's defeat against India.}

The allrounder batted in Taunton’s indoor nets on Wednesday, which constitutes a positive sign for Australia, although he was not yet ready to return to bowling. With that in mind, it would be a shock if he were to face Sri Lanka.

Stoinis’ cause, though, is helped by Australia’s playing schedule; after taking on Dimuth Karunaratne’s side on Saturday, Australia do not play until coming up against Bangladesh on Thursday at Trent Bridge.

The issue was magnified against Pakistan, with Maxwell’s seven overs costing 58 runs. Whether Finch and Langer would be prepared to take a similar risk with their resources as Stoinis’ absence continues remains to be seen.

However, there appear to be few alternatives for Australia. Should they choose to pick an extra specialist bowler to fill the void of Stoinis – Adam Zampa, Nathan Lyon and Jason Behrendorff are all part of the 15-man squad, it would mean severely shortening a batting line-up that was bowled out in 49 overs against Pakistan.

Alex Carey could move up the order to number six, with Nathan Coulter-Nile, who struck 92 against West Indies, batting at seven. That effort, though, was only Coulter-Nile’s third score above fifty in his List A career, suggesting that such a move – despite his good form with the bat – might be something of a risk.

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