Mitchell Marsh Might Be Banned for Match Against India

Australia’s star pacer Josh Hazlewood has hinted at the possibility of Australia manipulating their margin of victory in the upcoming T20 World Cup match against Scotland to potentially knock England out of the tournament.

However, Australian captain Mitchell Marsh could face severe repercussions if the team is found to have deliberately engaged in such tactics.

“In this tournament you potentially come up against England at some stage again, they’re probably one of the top few teams on their day, and we’ve had some real struggles against them in T20 cricket, so if we can get them out of the tournament that’s in our best interest as well as probably everyone else,” Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

After two matches, England sits in fourth place in the standings with one loss and one abandoned game. Their exact position will be clearer after their matches against Oman and Namibia.

There is a scenario where if Australia narrowly wins against Scotland, it could allow Scotland to qualify over England.

If Australia pursues this strategy, it could spell trouble for Marsh. Under Article 2.11 of the ICC’s code of conduct, Marsh could face a ban for two out of the three upcoming Super Eight fixtures. This rule aims to prevent teams from making inappropriate strategic or tactical decisions to manipulate standings, including deliberately losing matches or unfairly altering the run rate.

The ICC has specified that unfair manipulation of the run rate is subject to a level 2 offence, which could result in Marsh facing significant penalties.