Three Australian players ruled out of South Africa series

Australia has been forced to make three late changes to its squad for the upcoming ODI series against South Africa after Mitchell Owen, Lance Morris, and Matt Short were ruled out due to injury concerns. Aaron Hardie, Cooper Connolly, and Matt Kuhnemann have been named as their replacements.

Mitchell Owen will miss both the series-deciding third T20I and the ODI series after suffering a concussion. He was struck on the helmet by a sharp bouncer from Kagiso Rabada in the second T20I in Darwin. While he initially passed an on-field concussion assessment, delayed symptoms emerged, prompting a mandatory 12-day stand-down that ends hopes of an ODI debut.

Fast bowler Lance Morris has been sidelined with back soreness, a worrying development given his history of back injuries. He has returned to Perth for further medical evaluation, putting his participation in the upcoming Australia A tour of India in doubt.

Matt Short, who was already unavailable for the first two T20Is due to a side strain from the West Indies tour, has now been ruled out of the entire South Africa series. This adds to a series of injury setbacks for the all-rounder, including a quad injury during the Champions Trophy earlier this year.

The ODI series begins on August 19 in Cairns, followed by matches in Mackay on August 22 and 24. Hardie stays on from the T20I squad, Kuhnemann returns for the first time since 2022, and Connolly joins after making his debut in the Champions Trophy semi-final against India.

Updated 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.