Mitchell Owen, the hero of the 2024-25 Big Bash League final, has been selected in Australia’s squad for their upcoming T20I series against the West Indies, in July. The five-match tour will be his first experience with international cricket. Mitchell Owen earned his maiden call-up after a stellar season in the BBL, where he scored a match-winning century in the final for Hobart Hurricanes.
Mitchell Owen and Matt Kuhnemann have earned their maiden T20I call-ups as Australia announced a 16-man squad for the five-match series in West Indies next month. Notably, Jake Fraser-McGurk has been omitted from the squad . Mitchell Owen’s 452-run campaign for the Hurricanes last summer was topped off with his 39-ball hundred in the BBL|14 final, typing the record for the fastest century in the tournament alongside Perth Scorcher and Adelaide Strikers cult hero Craig Simmons.
Mitchell Owen’s rise to the Australian ranks
Mitchell Owen is a promising 23-year-old all-rounder from Tasmania, Australia. He rose to prominence earlier this year in the Big Bash League (BBL), where he represented the Hobart Hurricanes.
Mitchell Owen made headlines by smashing the fastest century in BBL history—reaching the milestone in just 39 balls. He went on to score a blistering 108 off 42 deliveries in the final against Sydney Thunder, leading his team to the title. He finished the tournament as the top run-scorer with 452 runs in 11 innings.
Mitchell Owen, meanwhile, finished the latest season of the Big Bash League as the highest run-getter with a tally of 452 runs in 11 outings at an average of 45.20 and a staggering strike-rate of 203.6. He hit 108 from 42 deliveries in the final, guiding Hobart Hurricanes to the title and earning the PoTM.
Mitchell Owen scored two centuries for Hobart Hurricanes, including in the final to help them clinch their maiden title. His returns have been lean since then during stints in the SA20, PSL and IPL where he has scored just 116 runs in 11 innings with a highest score of 34.
Before the IPL where he represented finalists Punjab Kings(PBKS), Mitchell Owen played three matches for the Paarl Royals in the SA20 2025. He also represented Peshawar Zalmi in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). A centurion in the BBL finals, unfortunately Mitchell Owen also shares an unwanted record in IPL as he became the fourth Australian player to register a duck on IPL debut. The others on this list include Ben Laughlin, Ashton Turner, and Jhye Richardson.
While Mitchell Owen’s starS continues to rise after he earned his maiden national call-up, Australia’s next sensation Jake Fraser-McGurk’s international career has reached an early crossroad after he was left out of Australia’s T20I squad to face West Indies in a five-match series in the Caribbean during July .
Jake Fraser McGurk’s T20I international career hits a major block
Jake Fraser-McGurk, 23, was the most notable omission from the squad named for the series against West Indies that starts on July 20 in Jamaica immediately following the three-match Test series.
He had played in seven of Australia’s last eight T20Is but had only passed 20 once, when he scored 50 off 31 balls against England last September batting at No. 3. In 19 T20s since then, including three T20Is against Pakistan, he has scored 290 runs at 15.26, striking at 136.15. He has two scores above 26 and one above 38, which was 95 off 46 in the final game of the BBL season. He was dropped by Delhi Capitals during the IPL season after scores of 1, 38, 0, 7, 0, and 9.
Fraser-McGurk was seen as the man who would be David Warner’s immediate and permanent replacement in Australia’s T20I side but will now be asked to return to domestic and franchise cricket to work on his craft. ESPNcricinfo understands there is a hope from the CA hierarchy that he is able to play a bit more four-day cricket for South Australia in the Sheffield Shield to help him work on his all-round batting and decision-making to supplement his raw ball-striking ability.
McGurk, who has featured in seven of Australia’s last-eight T20Is, has only made one fifty in his nascent career, failing to cross 20 in all remaining six innings. Xavier Bartlett and Marcus Stoinis have also been left out.
Owen, meanwhile, has been rewarded following his stunning BBL season by being named in the squad alongside T20I skipper Mitchell Marsh, who returns to captain the side after missing Australia’s last T20I series against Pakistan in November 2024 for paternity leave and Test preparation.
Marcus Stoinis and Xavier Bartlett ignored
Mitchell Marsh will lead the team following a high-scoring IPL season where he tallied 627 runs for Lucknow Super Giants in 13 innings, including a maiden tournament century.
Glenn Maxwell, recently retired from ODIs, has been named among the 16 while Tim David, who missed out the last handful of games for just-crowned IPL champions RCB, has also made the cut. Also returning to the shortest-format squad are Cameron Green and Cooper Connolly, after a brief injury layoff, and Josh Hazlewood who had been rested for the last T20I assignment against Pakistan.
Mitchell Owen could get a chance in a finishing role given the intriguing absence of Stoinis, who has been a bedrock of Australia’s middle-order since the 2021 World Cup triumph and scored 61 not out of 27 balls in Australia’s most recent T20I against Pakistan. He also played an important role in Punjab Kings’ run to the IPL final.
Marcus Stoinis retired from ODI cricket on the eve on the Champions Trophy but is still available for T20I cricket. However, he does not hold a central contract and has a deal to play in the Hundred in August which overlaps with Australia’s three T20Is against South Africa.
Mitchell Marsh is unlikely to bowl much if at all moving forward given his ongoing back issues while Green won’t be able to bowl in a T20 until after the Ashes series assuming his return to bowling from back surgery goes according to plan. Aaron Hardie has been included in Australia’s squad as the next seam-bowling allrounder while Owen could also be given a chance to fill a role with the ball but his experience is well shy of the other three.
Bartlett has slipped down the bowling pecking order despite being centrally contracted after also being overlooked for the Champions Trophy in February. Nathan Ellis will lead the seam attack alongside Hazlewood in the absence of Cummins and Starc while Ben Dwarshuis, Sean Abbott and Spencer Johnson are also in the squad as they were in the Champions Trophy.
The five-game series in Jamaica starts on July 19, immediately after the three-match Test series and therefore Australia have chosen to rest Pat Cummins, Travis Head and Mitchell Starc.
Australia’s T20 squad: Mitchell Marsh (c), Sean Abbott, Cooper Connolly, Tim David, Ben Dwarshius, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Matt Kuhnemann, Glenn Maxwell, Mitch Owen, Matthew Short, Adam Zampa