MELBOURNE: Mitchell Marsh has ruled himself out of captaining Australia’s limited overs teams, removing another obstacle in the way of David Warner’s leadership bid.

Aaron Finch has stepped down from the one-day captaincy and could also vacate his T20 role after Australia’s World Cup defence.

All-rounder Marsh, the hero of Australia’s World Cup final win over New Zealand last year in the United Arab Emirates, said the captaincy was not on his radar.

“Probably not to be honest, I’m out of the race,” he told reporters on Tuesday. “I’ve had to get the body right for this World Cup.

“Cricket Australia has a decision to make after the World Cup ... it’s really not something I’ve thought about.”

Warner was banned from leadership roles for life after the Newlands ball-tampering scandal in 2018 but he hopes Cricket Australia will lift the ban to allow him to mount a case.

The veteran opener has had plenty of backing from past players and media pundits, with former captain Greg Chappell saying he deserved a second chance in a newspaper column last week.

Marsh stopped short of backing Warner but said he “loved” him as a person and that he was highly regarded by his team-mates.

“As far as all the decisions go, I certainly steer clear of all those conversations. But he’s a great man to have in the squad,” said Marsh.

The all-rounder returned to action in the T20 series against West Indies after an ankle injury and scored 36 batting at number three against England in the defeat in Perth on Sunday.

He has been spared bowling duties as he eases back in but said he hoped to be ready to bowl before Australia begin their World Cup defence against New Zealand on Oct. 22.

Australia play another World Cup warm-up against England in Canberra on Wednesday.

Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2022