Pat Cummins has been rested from the three-match T20I series which will open Australia’s seven-week tour of Sri Lanka in June-July later this year. The tour, which also consists of five ODIs and two Tests, will otherwise see Australia return to near full-strength squads, with most players who missed the white-ball tour of Pakistan owing to IPL back in the fold.
Marcus Harris is a notable absentee in the 16-man Test squad alongside Mark Steketee, although both have been named in the ‘A’ squad that will be on a shadow tour of Sri Lanka alongside the senior men’s team.
There are galactic changes in the limited-overs sides though, which on expected lines sees the return of regulars Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Glenn Maxwell, David Warner, Steve Smith, and Matthew Wade. There’s no place for Ben McDermott, who scored his maiden ODI century in Pakistan last month, and Michael Neser.
Adam Zampa, who is expecting his first child with his wife, will miss the entire tour. It will also be Andrew McDonald’s first tour as a full-time head coach.
“These are very targeted to skill sets and what we see as the bulk of the squad for the home T20 World Cup and looking further forward to the ODI World Cup,” said Men’s Chair of National Selectors George Bailey. “We were able to continue to build our depth with great white ball performances in Pakistan on the back of a superb Test Series. As selectors, this has been one of the most rewarding parts amid the challenges of the past few years.”
The ‘A’ squad, which will play two one-day and two first-class games, sees the likes of Sean Abbott, Scot Boland, Pete Handscomb, and Jhye Richardson, with youngsters like Tanveer Sangha and Aaron Hardie also in the mix.
“This is the first time a tour of this scale has been possible since the Ashes in 2019,” Bailey said.
“It’s incredibly exciting to have an Australia A component which offers the further flexibility and opportunity for players to be available for and cross over into all squads,” he went on to add. “That could be from a Test or white ball preparation perspective or an opportunity to impress at an international level.
“Those factors coupled with what we expect to be more freedom of travel means we can be very specific with our structures while continuing to develop the next generation of players.”
