With confirmation of Australia’s two-Test match tour to Bangladesh, a 13-man squad has been announced.
The tour will be played at the end of August and early September, with the side playing a two-day tour match in Fatullah on August 22, before travelling to Dhaka for the first Test against the Tigers on August 27.
The second Test will be played in Chittagong on September 4. There are no ODI matches scheduled.
The tour is a catch-up for the one abandoned in 2015, which was called off due to security issues. With an improving situation in Bangladesh and England completing a tour of the nation late last year, the decision has been made by Cricket Australia to go ahead with fixtures.
Despite the contract situation hanging over the team, with no confirmation that any player will have a contract after June 30, Cricket Australia have named a full strength squad with the intention of coming to an agreement before the deadline.
Ashton Agar has been selected as the side’s second spinner, with Steve O’Keefe dropped after the Indian tour earlier this year.
Hilton Cartwright has also been included in the squad, while spearhead Mitchell Starc has been rested from the tour ahead of a busy Ashes campaign against England next summer.
National selector Trevor Hohns said O’Keefe’s performances weren’t up to standard, while Cartwright’s batting has stood out.
“Whilst Steve O’Keefe bowled well in Pune, he did not maintain this level in the remaining matches of the series and we believe the timing is right for Ashton to enter the set-up and test his all-rounder ability,” he said.
“Hilton averages nearly 60 runs in first-class cricket and was the second highest run-scorer in the Sheffield Shield last season with 861 runs. He is a quality player who we believe has a big future for Australia and we are very keen to see him carry on his good form in the sub-continent.”
Interestingly, no replacement for Starc has been named, although Josh Hazlewood, Patrick Cummins and James Pattinson are in the squad. A 14th member will be added to the team following the upcoming Australia A tour of South Africa.
Team Physiotherapist David Beakely said Starc’s stress fracture had not healed properly.
“Mitchell was due to go for follow up scans after the Champions Trophy, as part of his recovery plan. These scans have indicated his previous stress fracture has still not fully healed to the extent we would like,” Beakely said.
“He will now undertake a period of rest from bowling with the aim to have him return for the one-day series in India in late September as he begins his build-up to the Ashes.”
The squad otherwise looks roughly the same as the one that toured India. David Warner, Steve Smith, Usman Khawaja, Matt Renshaw and Peter Handscomb have all been selected, as has wicketkeeper Matthew Wade.
All-rounder Glenn Maxwell is again in the squad, while Nathan Lyon retains his spot.
Australia’s squad for Tour of Bangladesh
Steve Smith (c)
David Warner (vc)
Ashton Agar
Hilton Cartwright
Patrick Cummins
Peter Handscomb
Josh Hazlewood
Usman Khawaja
Nathan Lyon
Glenn Maxwell
James Pattinson
Matthew Renshaw
Matthew Wade
Roarers, what do you make of the Australian squad to tour Bangladesh?
Nathan
Guest
Where is dutchy?
dan ced
Guest
Why bother, they keep picking average sides for every form of cricket. I just can't support such a team. Agar has served up a Henriques serve of filth every time he's bowled for his country and shouldn't be given so many unwarranted chances. Cummins doesn't deserve a spot ahead of people that have put wickets on the board domestically, Pattinson fills that Starc role well enough, a Sayers or Behrendorff would do a much better job. Wade should be playing for the Hobbiton smokerings cricket association in NZ. ALWAYS CRAP. Bring in Carey.
Ronan O'Connell
Expert
Rellum the fact that Nevill wasn't selected for next month's Australia A tour of South Africa suggests he may now be 3rd in line for a Test spot behind Carey, who will tour SA. If the selectors were seriously considering bringing Nevill back for the Ashes I think he probably would have toured SA to give him a tune up. In regards to Wade I think he actually might have built up some credits with the selectors in India. He had a good series - he batted well and was solid with the gloves. Wade was very poor last summer but his efforts in India may well have bought him a start in the Ashes. The Bangladesh series could yet throw a cat amongst the pigeons though. If Carey excels in SA and Wade flops in Bangladesh, who knows?
Rellum
Roar Guru
Ronan, given Nevill's form in FC cricket since his dropping, and Wade's form with both bat and gloves at international level, if both continue can you see Nevill returning during the ashes or the SA tour
AREH
Roar Guru
Khawaja would start in the XI I'd imagine for sure, but like the Sri Lanka series where he and Burns were discarded, he might be only a failure away here from never seeing the sub-continent again
Rats
Guest
He will get a tour game for sure . he will score a 50. But a 50 against a Bangladesh 'A' team will be of no achievement. So he wont be picked for first Test
Stuart Neil Bywater
Guest
Allegedly urinating on themselves, vomiting in the first class cabin, all good fun eh?
Stuart Neil Bywater
Guest
What a strange comment. Tiger O'Reilly was a massive fan of Clarrie Grimmett, a New Zealander, who played first class cricket for Victoria, South Australia and tests for Australia. O'Reilly as a selector or Don Freo? PMSL
Giri Subramanian
Roar Guru
It is indeed really frustrating when the national team has been looking for a very good spinner for a long time. Even though Nathan Lyon has been brilliant, he has often lacked support. For the first time, O'Keefe provided that support in India earlier this year. Just when Australia found 2 good spinners to tour subcontinent, this happens. At 32 I guess he does not have too much time on his hands. A FC average of 23.7 is fantastic by any standards. The pitches here aren't that suited to spinners and other spinners have very high averages. It is good that the selectors have faith on Ashton Agar, but I don't think he will be that effective in Bangladesh. He will lengthen the batting though.
Stuckbetweenindopak
Roar Rookie
The big question for me is will khawaja get a game or even a tour game Or will he continue to sit out in that orange outfit?
Giri Subramanian
Roar Guru
YesI agree, O'Keefe has brilliant first class record in Australia. Even better record than Australia's lead spinner Nathan Lyon.He is a very good spinner. To dismiss his performance citing pitch conditions is not right. 3 other spinners played in that game and no one took that many wickets.
Giri Subramanian
Roar Guru
I think Hazlewood did decent in India. In the absence of Starc, I don't think Australia would drop him from the X1. Cummins and Starc had better averages by Hazlewood bowled lots of overs and kept things quiet. I think Australia are going to miss O Keefe in Bangladesh, I don't think Agar is good enough spinner at the test level yet.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
They would certainly keep picking him outside the sub-continent, but for Usman he really needs to show that he's come up with some sort of method to combat spin in sub-continental conditions. Can't play spin there the same way you play spin here. Would love to see him get some good scores over there and just look a bit more comfortable and confident than he did during that Sri Lankan series.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
Obviously the way he bowled he was able to perfectly exploit the conditions. But yes, he was the only bowler to rip through the opposition batting lineup in that way, so to dismiss it as just a product of the pitch is pretty stupid. Clearly different bowlers bowling styles suit different conditions better, and those conditions may be the perfect ones for him, but he still completely out bowled all the other spinners on that deck, including Jadeja who is the most similar to his way of bowling and should therefore have enjoyed the conditions just as much.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
Yeah, it's not his first offense. Have to believe that it's things like this, and other behind the scenes things that the public don't get to see, which have always put a question mark against his name with the selectors previously and would contribute to why, despite having a F/C record that destroys every other spinner in the country, that the selectors would always look for almost any other option than him.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
Cummins definitely bats above Lyon. But other than that it's certainly the team we are looking at. It's not going to happen, but part of me wonders if in sub-continental conditions, Pattinson and Cummins would be a better option for 2 quicks than Hazlewood. He can struggle for penetration in slow, dry conditions like in India. The extra pace and reverse swing ability can be useful. There is certainly the thought that Pattinson and Cummins may be too similar to be the two quicks in the team, and anywhere outside the sub-continent Hazlewood is the first fast bowler picked, which is why I can't see it happening.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
If Khawaja is in he'd slot into 3 and Smith would drop back to 4. I'm pretty sure Smith actually prefer's #4, but will happily bat #3 if there isn't a specialist #3 like Khawaja in the team.
Ronan O'Connell
Expert
Rellum I never said anything about picking Wade ahead of other keepers I just addressed Don's two incorrect statements regarding Nevill having a better batting average than Wade's since his return, and Wade dropping an extra catch per innings compared to Nevill.
Giri Subramanian
Roar Guru
To be frank Wade is a better bat than Nevill. I understand that Nevill hasn't played that much test cricket but going back to him will not be a great move. If if the selectors go back to Nevill it will be a temporary solution and not a permanent one. Nevill and Wade have played similar amount of games for Australia and Wade clearly has had a better time with the bat. Wade is younger and has similar first class record to Nevill and the selectors will hope that he carries on till they find a replacement.
Rellum
Roar Guru
I know nothing about legalities, but do you think anyone would buy CA reasons for his dropping? I don't know why he just isn't suspend until the end of Oct to make it clear to everyone. I know NSW is the one who probably suspended him, but CA could easily have said we will respect that decision and not pick him until he is available for NSW again.