Australia have announced a preliminary 26-man squad for their potential limited-overs tour to England.
Australia were initially supposed to tour England this month for a series comprising three T20Is and as many ODIs. However, the Covid-19 pandemic’s impact on the cricket calendar meant the series had to be postponed, with the Daily Mail reporting September is being looked at as an option.
Cricket Australia acknowledged there remains “several hurdles” to overcome in “a possible tour of England”, but said it wanted to give its players adequate preparation time should the tour go ahead.
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To that end, CA announced a 26-man preliminary squad – “a positive step, albeit not a definitive one” – comprising three uncapped players in Daniel Sams, Riley Meredith and Josh Philippe apart from veterans such as Glenn Maxwell and Usman Khawaja.
However, there was no room for Shaun Marsh, Nathan Coulter-Nile and Peter Handscomb, while paceman Jhye Richardson was also overlooked as he continues his recovery from a shoulder injury.
“This preliminary list covers the contingencies of playing One-Day Internationals and T20 Internationals in bio-secure hubs with the likely prospect of not being able to bring in replacements should the tour proceed,” said Trevor Hohns, the national selector.
21 men have opened the batting for Australia in Tests this century. Can you name them all?https://t.co/IQM8SuaXam
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) July 9, 2020
“The preliminary list includes several exciting young players who have recently excelled at state level and in the BBL. These emerging players are among those we would like to develop further as we believe they have a bright future in Australian cricket.
“The preliminary list also has a view towards the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup and in the longer term the 2023 ICC World Cup.”
Squad: Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Aaron Finch, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Michael Neser, Josh Philippe, Daniel Sams, D’Arcy Short, Kane Richardson, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa
