Mitch Marsh is out of the Champions Trophy and will not play again this season after succumbing to spinal stress fractures and a disc problem in his back.

The Australian Twenty20 captain lost his Test place to Beau Webster this summer after his bowling was restricted by the back problem.

He will now miss the one-day tournament in Pakistan and the UAE starting next month.

Marsh, 33, has carried the back issue all season and was able to bowl only 33 overs in the Test series against India.

He bowled just four overs in one-day and T20 ranks during the tour to England last year.

Test captain Pat Cummins, who is missing the current Test series against Sri Lanka to be with his partner for the birth of their second child, is also likely to miss the Champions Trophy with an ankle injury he has carried all summer.

The absence of Australia’s two main leaders means that Test stand-in Steve Smith, recent one-day captain Josh Inglis and untried Travis Head are the leading candidates to lead the team in Pakistan.

It is almost unheard of in Australian history to have so many capable captains at one time.

Marsh has signed with Lucknow in the IPL but it is not known if he will be fit to play in India when that tournament gets underway in March. It is his sixth IPL franchise.

Marsh’s fellow WA all-rounders Marcus Stoinis and Aaron Hardie are in the Champions Trophy squad.

Cam Green, another WA all-rounder, is making a steady return to cricket after recovering from spinal stress fractures.

Green was not supposed to take part in the England series in September but was a late call-up and then broke down with stress fractures after bowling 10 overs in two matches.

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