Australia lose Owen, Morris and Short for South Africa ODIs; Hardie, Connolly, Kuhnemann called up

Australia have been forced into late changes ahead of the three-match ODI series against South Africa, with Mitchell Owen (concussion), Lance Morris (back soreness), and Matt Short (side strain) ruled out; Aaron Hardie, Cooper Connolly and Matt Kuhnemann have been drafted into the squad as cover.

What happened and who comes in

Owen was struck on the helmet grille by Kagiso Rabada during the second T20I in Darwin; he passed the on-field assessment but later reported delayed concussion symptoms, triggering Cricket Australia’s mandatory 12-day stand-down that rules him out of the T20I decider and the ODI series, shelving a potential ODI debut for now. Morris reported back soreness upon joining the group and has returned to Perth for assessment, placing his Australia A red-ball tour prospects in doubt given his history of back issues. Short has not recovered from the side strain sustained on the West Indies tour and, after initially missing the first two T20Is, is now out of the entire South Africa leg in another disrupted run following a Champions Trophy quad injury earlier this year.

In response, selectors have added Western Australia allrounder Hardie, left-handed batting allrounder Connolly, and left-arm spinner Kuhnemann, creating the option of a twin‑spin attack with Adam Zampa for northern Australian surfaces. Connolly was fast‑tracked into the senior setup earlier this year for the Champions Trophy and featured in the semi‑final against India, while Kuhnemann previously played four ODIs in 2022. Hardie had already joined the T20I squad as Short’s cover and now transitions into the ODI group as well.

Series context and schedule

South Africa squared the T20I series with a 53‑run win in Darwin, driven by Dewald Brevis’ unbeaten 125, setting up the decider in Cairns on Saturday before the ODIs begin at the same venue on August 19, with the second and third ODIs at Mackay on August 22 and 24. Josh Inglis missed the second T20I due to flu‑like symptoms, prompting Alex Carey’s recall for his first T20I since 2021; Inglis remains part of the ODI squad named below.

Updated Australia ODI squad

Mitchell Marsh (capt), Xavier Bartlett, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matt Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Adam Zampa.