Cummins, Hazlewood and Starc skip Pakistan-Bangladesh ODIs as McDonald banks Australia's 2027
Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc will sit out Australia's next two ODI series, and head coach Andrew McDonald has spelled out why. The three quicks are rested for the white-ball tours of Pakistan and Bangladesh that begin on May 30, and McDonald said this week that the gap is the last meaningful window his pacers will get before a 2027 calendar that runs them ragged.
"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," McDonald told reporters when pressed on the absences. Australia have named Mitchell Marsh as captain across the two ODI series, with Pakistan hosting three games from May 30 to June 4 and Bangladesh following from June 9 to 14.
The 2027 problem the pace attack is being saved for
Cummins turns 34 next May. Starc will be 37 and Hazlewood 36 by the time the ODI World Cup begins in southern Africa in October 2027. Australia's diary for that year is the kind that fast bowlers do not finish without scars: an away tour of India, an Ashes leg in England, the World Cup defence, and a likely World Test Championship final if the side gets through the qualifying cycle.
McDonald has not committed any of the three to all four assignments. What he has committed to is the conditioning runway. The Pakistan-Bangladesh window covers six ODIs across the subcontinent, and skipping it is worth more to a 33-year-old quick than the matches themselves. The Big Three flew home from the IPL this week with bowling loads already in the hundreds of overs.
Who fills the gap
The Pakistan ODI squad reads thin on Test names. Ollie Peake, who captained Australia at the Under-19 World Cup earlier this year, and uncapped all-rounder Liam Scott are the maiden call-ups. Billy Stanlake, Riley Meredith and Nathan Ellis carry the new-ball workload, with Tanveer Sangha and Matt Short providing the part-time options. Marnus Labuschagne and Alex Carey anchor the top order alongside Josh Inglis.
The Bangladesh leg gets a top-up. Travis Head, Cooper Connolly, Ben Dwarshuis and Xavier Bartlett rotate in once IPL commitments end, replacing Peake, Stanlake, Meredith and Short for the second half of the tour. Cameron Green and Adam Zampa play both series.
A bet that they last
The historical record is not generous to fast bowlers in their mid-thirties carrying World Cup campaigns. Australia's last 50-over title in 2023 was won by an attack with Starc, Hazlewood and Cummins all bowling in clusters that none of them could repeat back-to-back. McDonald is gambling that managed workloads from now until late 2027 will keep the same trio fit enough to roll out one more time. The Pakistan tour is the first cheque against that account.
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