Injured Cummins out of T20 World Cup, Dwarshuis in Australia squad

Australia fast bowler Pat Cummins was ruled out on Saturday for next month’s Twenty20 World Cup after failing to recover from a nagging back injury, and Ben Dwarshuis will replace him for the global showpiece.

Cummins played just one of the five Ashes tests against England, but Australia kept him in the provisional World Cup squad hoping for his availability in the Super Eight stage of the tournament to be played in India and Sri Lanka.

Matt Renshaw also replaced fellow batter Matthew Short but veteran Steve Smith could not break into the World Cup squad despite his strong form in the Big Bash League.

“With Pat needing more time to recover from his back injury, Ben is a ready replacement who offers a left-arm pace option as well as dynamic fielding and late-order hitting,” selector Tony Dodemaide said.

“We believe his ability to swing the ball at good pace along with clever variations will be well suited to the conditions we expect and overall structure of the squad.”

The Mitchell Marsh-led side are currently playing a three-match T20 series in Pakistan as part of their preparation for the World Cup.

“With the top order settled and spin-heavy conditions expected in the pool stages in Sri Lanka, we also feel Matt provides extra middle-order support, with Tim David completing his return-to-play program in the early phase of the tournament,” Dodemaide said of Renshaw’s selection.

“As a left-hander, he also offers a point of difference to the middle-order batting.”

Renshaw scored 15 in his T20 debut for Australia in Thursday’s defeat in Lahore.

The former champions begin their World Cup campaign against Ireland in a February 11 match in Colombo.

Australia World Cup squad: Mitchell Marsh (captain), Travis Head, Xavier Bartlett, Josh Hazlewood, Cooper Connolly, Josh Inglis, Tim David, Matthew Kuhnemann, Ben Dwarshuis, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, Matthew Renshaw, Nathan Ellis, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa.