Australia all-rounder Mitchell Marsh flies back home to attend to "family issues"
Ahmedabad, Nov 2: In-form Australia all-rounder Mitchell Marsh left for home on Thursday due to personal reasons for an indefinite period, dealing yet another blow to the team, already hit by Glenn Maxwell's unavailability for the next World Cup match against England due to concussion.
Marsh could be out of the whole tournament as Cricket Australia did not give any timeline for his return.
"A timeline on his return to the squad is to be confirmed," the CA said in a statement.
In Marsh's absence, Cameron Green could be drafted into the team for the match against arch-rivals England here on Saturday.
Fit again team-mate Marcus Stoinis, however, gave hopes that Marsh could return to India for the World Cup.
"He's got a family issue going on and like we all know, family is very important, the most important really," Stoinis told reporters on Thursday.
"He's doing the right thing and he's getting home and he's seeing the people he needs to see. I don't think there's a timeline on when he's coming back, but I'm sure he'll do what he needs to do at home and then get back," he said.
Stoinis said Marsh told him before departing for home that he would be "coming back to win this World Cup".
"He sent me a message last night saying, 'I'll be home for a little bit and then I'm coming back to win this World Cup' so that speaks to his mindset. I joked with him that he just passes the overs back to me now - and thanks for that'. You know that the bases are covered, but we will miss him, and he'll be back soon.
"You miss him off the field in terms of his energy and his personality around the team as much as we're going to miss him on the field but you can pretty much see how the team's going to line-up (without him)."
Australia have already lost fellow all-rounder Maxwell for Saturday's clash against England due to concussion after a freak injury on a golf course, and the absence of Marsh adds further intrigue as the five-time World Cup champions chase a place in the knockout stages of the tournament.
Alex Carey, Sean Abbott, Marcus Stoinis and Cameron Green will come into contention to replace Maxwell and Marsh for the match with England, while spinner Tanveer Sangha is travelling with the team as a reserve.
Australia are not allowed to bring in a player from outside their squad to temporarily replace Marsh. Under tournament rules, only an injury (or another reason approved by the ICC) would allow Marsh to then come back in.
Australia do have the option of replacing Marsh should the all-rounder miss the remainder of the tournament, but all replacement players need to be approved by the Event Technical Committee.
Marsh has scored 225 runs and taken two wickets so far in the ongoing World Cup, with his best of 121 with the bat against Pakistan in Bengaluru.
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Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
