New Zealand ODI series: No replacement for injured Marsh

Napier, Mar 2: Australia have decided against replacing injured opener Shaun Marsh and will take only 13 players into their ODI series against New Zealand, starting on Wednesday.

Marsh had been ruled out of the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy five-game series after failing to recover from a back injury.

Addressing the media at a pre-match press conference in Napier, Australian skipper Ricky Ponting said: "We've spoken about that in the last couple of days, with Shaun Marsh not making the trip over. We feel at the moment we've got a replacement fast bowler and a spare batter."

"If we feel that we need someone, with Australia being so close, it's pretty easy to get someone over pretty soon. Hopefully we don't need anybody else," The Daily Telegraph quoted Ponting, as saying.

Marsh had injured his back during the warm-up for the third ODI against the West Indies in Sydney on February 12.

Following the injury, the 26-year-old was earlier replaced in the squad for the two Twenty20 Internationals against New Zealand by his fellow Western Australian team-mate Mike Hussey.

Australian team for the ODI series:
Ricky Ponting (captain), Brad Haddin, Shane Watson, Michael Clarke, Cameron White, Mike Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, James Hopes, Adam Voges, Nathan Hauritz, Clint McKay, Doug Bollinger and Ryan Harris.