West Indies v Australia, Twenty20 international, Barbados

Marsh and Ronchi to debut

Cricinfo staff

June 20, 2008

	Shaun Marsh in the nets ahead of his Twenty20 international debut © Getty Images

Shaun Marsh says it was an emotional moment when he was told he would be making his Twenty20 international debut in Barbados, fulfilling his dream of following his father Geoff into the national team. Marsh and his Western Australian team-mate Luke Ronchi will both play their first matches for Australia against West Indies on Friday.

Australia have confirmed that Nathan Bracken is the only one of the one-day specialists who have joined the squad in the Caribbean who will not play in the Twenty20 match. Brad Haddin will sit out to give his broken finger a chance to recover and Andrew Symonds is being rested after having back spasms in the third Test.

Marsh said it was a memorable moment when he was told of his inclusion. "There were a few emotions," Marsh told AAP. "Obviously I've worked hard for it and I just can't wait to represent my country. I've been dreaming about this for a long time, to be over here and be in the change rooms with all the guys has just been fantastic so far."

Marsh has already received high praise from the captain Ricky Ponting, who said the thing he is most looking forward to in the Twenty20 match is watching Marsh bat. Ponting will be leading a relatively inexperienced international side with Bracken, Haddin, Symonds and Stuart Clark the four men to sit out, although it will be an XI with significant batting depth.

West Indies are already without their captain Chris Gayle for the match and they could also lose their stand-in leader Ramnaresh Sarwan, who is nursing a groin injury he sustained during the third Test. If Sarwan is unavailable, Dwayne Bravo would be likely to lead the side, although the coach John Dyson said it was still possible Sarwan would play.

"We're just waiting to see what condition it is in [before the game]," Dyson told CMC. "It's nothing major. We are mindful that we have five one-days coming up. In this Twenty20 form of the game it can be fairly hectic."

Australia Shaun Marsh, Michael Clarke, Ricky Ponting (capt), Shane Watson, Michael Hussey, David Hussey, Cameron White, James Hopes, Luke Ronchi (wk), Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson.

West Indies (from) Xavier Marshall, Andre Fletcher, William Perkins, Ramnaresh Sarwan (capt), Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Darren Sammy, Jerome Taylor, Sulieman Benn, Daren Powell, Fidel Edwards, Kemar Roach.

© Cricinfo