Cricket Australia has named 26 players in a squad for a possible limited-overs tour of England later this year, which includes an uncapped trio.
A squad of 26 players has been announced for a potential England series of one-dayers and Twenty20 games which is yet to be confirmed.
CA and English hierarchy are discussing a possible tour in September.
“We continue to work with the ECB and government agencies and a decision on the tour will be made in due course,” CA’s executive general manager of national teams Ben Oliver said.
“In the meantime, the identification of a preliminary list will enable us to work with players and states more directly on the preparation for the tour in the hope it can proceed.”
Australia’s squad includes uncapped youngsters Josh Philippe, Riley Meredith and Daniel Sams, selector Trevor Hohns said.
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,” Hohns said.
“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.”
Australia 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.
Rellum
Roar Guru
They have picked nearly half the Shield squads.
Statler and Waldorf
Roar Guru
They've picked a lot of players that haven't played for a while :silly:
Paul
Roar Guru
Marcus Stoinis is returning to the scene of a dead ordinary WC. He's not likely to get a game in either format unless both openers are injured and even then, if I was a selector, I'd think twice.
Josso
Guest
PM, good shout. I'd probably drop D'Arcy Short. He has had a few runs for Australia in T20 and ODI but hasn't shined. I'd drop back to state cricket and get him hungry again and scoring runs.
Tom
Looks like they have more or less just included everyone with a central contract first and then thrown a few extras in.
Rob
Guest
Daniel Sams?!?!?!? We are doomed if he ever plays a game for Australia.
AREH
Roar Guru
Would this mean Head is back in the frame for ODI cricket? Or T20's? Hmmm
Tom
How do Sam Heazlett and Dan Hughes get overlooked for these things? List A averages of 54 and 57 respectively. Khawaja is there as a backup opener for the ODI’s I assume? Considering Warner, Finch and Khawaja will all be 35 or older by the next world cup, surely it is worth including Heazlett in these squads with a view to the future. Jake Weatherald also has a good List A record, although a little more rocks or diamonds than Heazlett.
Patrick
Roar Pro
Agreed on Finch as a T20 finisher. I really rate him at 5. Personally I like Wade as a T20 opener over Philippe- averaged 50+ with 170 SR last BBL. To me, the top five has to be one of these two options: 1: Warner, Wade, Smith, Maxwell, Finch 2: Warner, Finch, Smith, Maxwell, M Marsh/Wells. Its worth noting that Finch hasn’t played much down the order, but has done well there. In 5 innings at 5 or 6 in T20 Internationals, he has 142 runs without being dismissed, at a SR of 179.75. I’d say this is worth another try, given the lack of lower order options available, by contrast to the plethora of openers- can’t see it happening though now Finch is captain.
Marcus
Guest
I agree, Jono Wells does deserve a chance. He does that role better than anyone. Finch is the only one who can match him. Open with Warner and Philippe and drop Finch down?
Patrick
Roar Pro
A bit disappointing to see Jono Wells left out. Obviously he wouldn't be needed for the 50-over portion of the tour, but he's one of the few players in the country to excel batting lower than 3 in T20 cricket. Of the players selected, Warner, Finch, Wade, Khawaja, Philippe, Short, and Stoinis all open in T20s. Surely Wells could have been included at the expense of one of these guys, or Ben McDermott, who averaged mid 20s in the last BBL at a strike rate of only 122.