Andrew McDonald backs pace trio to feature in 2027 ODI World Cup

Australia Men’s Head Coach Andrew McDonald has shed light on how he manages to balance the workload of their pace trio of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc, backing them ahead of a gruelling year of cricket which will culminate with the 2027 Cricket World Cup.

The trio have not been named in Australia’s tour of Pakistan, set to commence on May 30. They joined their teams late for the 2026 IPL as Cricket Australia were keen to manage their workload. McDonald stated that he is backing the trio to feature in the 2027 World Cup, which means that their bodies have to be looked after meticulously.

"I think people look at the immediate games and go. Well, why aren't they playing there? But if you actually work back from 2027 and look at what we've got coming up, this is the last significant break that we get to invest into their bodies to set themselves up to get all the way through to 2027. We are planning for them to be there in 2027,” McDonald said, speaking to reporters ahead of the squad departing for Pakistan, as reported by Cricbuzz.

"I think there needs to be a lot of trust in what we're doing to be able to get them there. It's going to be a significant challenge, in particular for our fantastic (sports science and medical) team, they've done a great job over a period of time," he added.

He dismissed claims that players have the freedom to choose which series to sit out, further elaborating that these decisions are taken with the management and coaching group kept in discussions, an occurrence which McDonald stated has happened previously. 

"I think there's almost a misconception that the players are sort of picking and choosing as to where they play and which series they play in. These decisions are made around the management of what is coming up with in the schedule - and they don't choose that. We work with them on it, those players want to play. We just don't feel like it's the best time for them to play. We have done this before also in 2023," McDonald said.

McDonald further added that the biggest challenge is to get the trio through the demand of the fixtures, especially with age catching up to them. Starc, Cummins and Hazlewood are currently 36, 33 and 35, respectively.

"I think we're well placed if we're fit and healthy. And that's going to be the biggest challenge. How do we get the players through that demand? How do we manage them, in particular our fast bowlers? We are getting older, so that's going to create some different management challenges. They've been incredibly robust, a lot of those players, and a few have had a few recent (injury) pickups, so it's something that we need to invest a lot of time into."

Cummins, who is also skipper of the ODI team, has missed recent months of cricket due to a stress issue in his back. Mitchell Marsh has deputised in Cummins’ absence and will do so in the Pakistan series as well. McDonald further highlighted that the pair get along well and are working together with respect to the team.

"They're working together, so Pat's invested in the one-day team, we choose not to play him for the benefit of his body. Even on the back of what recently happened (with) his back injury - that probably surprised us - so we know that we need to really make sure we manage him well to get through that. It surprised us in terms of how much load - or lack of load - that he had to attribute to a stress-related injury."

Australia play three ODIs in Pakistan, as they kick off the road to defending their crown in the 2027 Cricket World Cup. The series will be played from May 30 to June 4, with the first game in Rawalpindi and the final two games in Lahore.