Henry Clark takes a look at the three uncapped players in the Australia limited-overs squad to face England later this summer.
Squad: Aaron Finch (c), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Riley Meredith, Josh Philippe, Daniel Sams, Kane Richardson, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa
The experienced trio of D’arcy Short, Usman Khawaja and Travis Head have all been omitted from Australia’s 21-man squad to tour England in a limited-overs series this summer.
The tour, which begins on September 4, includes three ODIs and three T20Is against their old rivals with the Ageas Bowl and Old Trafford once again selected as the bio-secure venues.
Three new names feature in the Australia squad after strong performances in the Big Bash and Sheffield Shield and we take a look closer look at those new faces and what to expect from them.
Riley Meredith
Right-arm fast bowler
List A record: 19 matches, 25 wickets @ 36.80, ER: 5.50
T20 record: 21 matches, 27 wickets @ 23.03, ER: 8.22
Riley Meredith is regarded as one of the most promising quicks Down Under, capable of consistently clocking in at over 90mph.
Injuries have meant national selection has come slightly later than the likes of Shane Warne, Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson may have predicted. The 24-year-old’s impressive form at the start of last season, where he dismissed David Warner and Steve Smith twice in intra-squad warm-up matches, earned himself a call-up to the Australia A squad to play Pakistan.
The Tasmanian quick suffered a side-strain which kept him out of the end of the most recent Big Bash tournament but the pacer took a hat-trick with the first three balls of his comeback match in late February in grade cricket.
He has become known for striking opposition batsman, even his own teammates at times, with his searing short ball; in October he broke Jordan Silk’s wrist during a training session in Hobart. It is his blistering pace which has earned him selection in an Australian attack which packs some serious heat.
Josh Philippe
Wicketkeeper-batsman
List A record: 13 matches, 446 runs @ 34.30, strike rate: 111.77, 16 catches, 2 stumpings
T20 record: 32 matches, 798 runs @ 33.25, strike rate: 138.30, 16 catches, 7 stumpings
Josh Philippe joins Western Australia teammates Marcus Stoinis, Ashton Agar, Andrew Tye and Mitch Marsh on the trip to England following a break-out Big Bash campaign last winter.
The 23-year-old was named Player of the Final after his destructive 29-ball 52 helped the Sidney Sixers to the title and has been earmarked as a star of the future for his country by current captain Aaron Finch.
It’s not been a straightforward journey for a man cast aside by the state system after just one year at Under 19 level. Philippe spent two winters playing club cricket in England in the North East Premier League as well as a spell in Durham’s second team before earning a recall into the Western Australia setup.
Ahead of the 2017-18 Ashes series in Australia he notably smashed an England attack including James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Chris Woakes around the WACA which caught the eye of the Aussie selectors.
Also more than capable of donning the wicketkeeping gloves, it will be interesting if his time in England will give the big-hitting batsman any advantage ahead of a potential international debut overseas.
Daniel Sams
Left-arm fast-medium, right-hand bat
List A record: 11 matches, 239 runs at 26.55, strike-rate: 104.36, 16 wickets @ 24.68, ER: 5.17
T20 record: 37 matches, 231 runs @ 8.55, strike-rate: 117.85, 52 wickets @ 18.36, ER: 8.13
The eldest of the three uncapped players at 27 years of age, Daniel Sams may have thought his dreams of representing Australia had gone. In fact, until the 2017-18 season, Sams had been combining his cricket ambitions with his job as a personal trainer before being given a contract upgrade by New South Wales.
After channeling all his efforts into his cricket, the left-armer has reaped the rewards. Not only was he the top wicket-taker in the most recent Big Bash with a staggering 30 wickets for Sydney Thunder, but only Rashid Khan has also taken more wickets than Sams’ 52 in the last three Big Bash seasons.
He provides another left-arm option in the Australia bowling attack and possesses an excellent slower ball which makes him adept to bowling at any stage of the innings. Although he struggled with the bat in his last campaign for Thunder, Sams is also more than handy with the bat and able to clear the ropes at the end of the innings.
