12-member Australia A squad named for second practice game against India A

Cricket Australia (CA) announced Australia A squad for the second practice game against India A from December 11 to December 13 at Sydney Cricket Ground. This game will be a Day-Night affair and will act as a good rehearsal for both the players before locking horns against each other in the first pink-ball Test of the four-match Border Gavaskar Trophy, starting from December 17 in Adelaide

The two teams had also featured in a practice game from December 6 to December 8 at Drummoyne Oval in Sydney that had resulted in a draw. Speaking about the squad for the second practice game, Australia has named wicketkeeper-batsman Alex Carey as the skipper of the side.

Apart from him, Australia A 12-member squad also includes Test squad members Joe Burns, Sean Abbott, Moises Henriques, Mark Steketee, Harry Conway and Will Sutherland, Cameron Green, and Mitchell Swepson.

Joe Burns will be looking forward to scoring runs in the second practice game

This would be the last chance for Joe Burns to impress the management to claim his spot in Australia’s playing XI in the highly-anticipated Test series against India. Burns was seen struggling to get going in red-ball cricket with an average of just 8.71 this summer. He also failed to make a mark with the willow in the first practice game as he registered a score of 4 and 0 across two innings.

Also, the mantle of scoring runs falls on Burns after Australia’s in-form batsman Will Pucovski is ruled out of the game after he suffered a concussion in the first practice match. The fast bowlers like Mark Steketee, who picked up a five-wicket haul in the first practice game and Sean Abbott will also be keen on making an impact in the second practice game.

As far as the opposition is concerned, the Indian team is yet to reveal its squad for the second practice game. However, it is expected that a lot of big names will feature in the match as it will give them an experience of playing pink-ball cricket before the Adelaide Test. Notably, this would be the first time that Men in Blue would feature in a Day-Night Test outside India.

Australia A squad: Sean Abbott, Joe Burns, Alex Carey (C & WK), Harry Conway, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Moises Henriques, Nic Maddinson, Ben McDermott, Mark Steketee, Will Sutherland, Mitchell Swepson.