SYDNEY: Australia on Thursday drafted Perth Scorchers batsman Ashton Turner as cover for Mitchell Marsh who was ruled out of the first ODI against India in Sydney with a gastro bug.

All-rounder Marsh has spent two days in hospital with his availability for the other two games in the series — in Adelaide and Melbourne — under a cloud.

“We’ll see how he goes, but he certainly won’t [play] this first game and we will wait and see how he recovers,” said coach Justin Langer ahead of the opening clash on Saturday.

It is another blow for Marsh who on Wednesday was axed from the Test squad to play Sri Lanka, along with his brother Shaun.

Turner, who plays state cricket with Western Australia and for the Scorchers in Twenty20, has scored 43 not out, 47 and 60 not out in his past three Big Bash League matches.

Revised squad:

Aaron Finch (captain), Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb, Glenn Maxwell, Ashton Turner, Marcus Stoinis, Mitch Marsh, Alex Carey, Jhye Richardson, Billy Stanlake, Jason Behrendorff, Peter Siddle, Nathan Lyon, Adam Zampa.

Published in Dawn, January 11th, 2019