Green got hit in the groin while batting and two balls later appeared in further pain after swinging hard on the delivery he was dismissed. He was due to bowl some overs in the game after not bowling on the entire tour to-date due to a shoulder issue but he did not take the field at all when South Africa batted.
Renshaw copped a nasty blow on the right wrist while fielding at a very close square leg to Adam Zampa at the start of the 14th over. Ryan Rickelton unfurled a powerful pull shot that bounced into his right wrist and he winced in pain before leaving the field at the end of the over. He did not return for the remainder of South Africa’s innings which only lasted another 14 overs before rain ended the match.
“I haven’t spoken to them yet, but hopefully both are okay,” Marsh said.
“[Green was] locked in the bowl a few overs today. He had a nice build, and it would have been nice for him to have a bowl. But yeah, it wasn’t meant to be, and I’m sure that it won’t affect his prep too much, hopefully.”
Inglis is still in Australia recovering from the fractured finger he suffered in the opening ODI. Australia’s selectors have not yet ruled him out of the Test series but they have not added any cover yet with just eight days to go before the first Test in Durban. Australia will need a spare wicketkeeper in the squad for the first Test in case of a late injury or concussion to Test incumbent Alex Carey while Inglis is also one of only two spare batters in the Test squad alongside Cooper Connolly.
Meanwhile, Marsh confirmed he would be returning home at the end of the ODI series after rumours had circulated over recent weeks that he could be added to the Test squad owing to his recent ODI form. Marsh has retired from domestic first-class cricket having not played a Test since December 2024. But Test skipper Pat Cummins told the Nine papers that he would like Marsh to keep his options open regarding Test cricket.
“Pat said the door’s open, then it’s open,” Marsh said. “I don’t think I would be good enough to retire from Test cricket.”
Marsh has not played a red-ball game since his last Sheffield Shield game in December last year and has not faced more than 63 deliveries in any of his 47 List A or T20 games since then. He was asked what his red-ball batting would be like if he were ever to return to Test cricket.
“It’s a great question,” Marsh said. “I don’t really know. I would imagine it would be similar to my white-ball game if I was to get another crack at it.”
One positive for Australia was that Cummins got through five overs unscathed in his first bowl since the Mackay Test in August. The ODI skipper did not captain though with Marsh remaining in charge.
“Pat is the ODI skipper, and his schedule is hectic, as we all know,” Marsh said. “So today was a case of me finishing the series. Pat hasn’t played one-day cricket for a while, and he’s got a big couple of weeks coming up. So we share the role, and as I’ve stated many times now, we’ve got a great relationship. And just even having me out there, we work so well together. And it didn’t look like he hadn’t played an ODI game for 700 days, so it was certainly nice to have him back.”