Australia announce limited overs squad for England and Ireland tour

Australia announce limited overs squad for England and Ireland tour: Cricket Australia today announced their squad for the one-day international and T20I matches against England and Ireland starting later this month. Steve Smith has been officially crowned as Australia’s next one-day international captain and will lead the squad featuring seven new faces for the limited-overs matches, with Joe Burns, Ashton Agar and Marcus Stoinis in line to make their debuts.

Burns was included in the squad, after showing a rich vein of form on Australia A’s recent tour of India. The 25-year-old, who made his Test debut against India last December, starred on the sub-continent, particularly with a 154 from 131 balls against India A. National Selection Panel chairman Rod Marsh said Burns had impressed them immensely during the ‘A’ Tour. “He is a very capable young batsman who has experience opening, and we think he will grab his opportunity with the white ball during this series,” said Marsh.

Ashton Agar was also rewarded for his performances for Australia A. He troubled quite a few Indian batsmen in the ongoing ODIs and the 4 day matches before that. Burns is expected to replace injured opener Aaron Finch, while Agar is included at the expense of Nathan Lyon and will play against England for the first time since a memorable Test debut in the 2013 Ashes series.

Fast bowlers Nathan Coulter-Nile and James Pattinson alongwith wicket keeper Matthew Wade have all been recalled to the national team from the ‘A’ Tour. Stoinis was named in place of suspended all-rounder James Faulkner. He will be one of three fast-bowling all-rounders in the group with Mitchell Marsh and Shane Watson retaining their spots from the World Cup squad. In Australia A’s 1-0 series victory over India A in the 4 day format, Stoinis averaged 48 with the bat and 31 with the ball in conditions not ideal for him.

The 15-man squad, which contains eight members of the victorious World Cup line-up that defeated New Zealand, does not feature Mitchell Johnson and Josh Hazlewood. They have been rested, and will return to Australia following the final Ashes Test at The Oval in order to begin preparations for the upcoming summer. Leg spinner Cameron Boyce was named for the Twenty20 international only. Australia will play Ireland in a one-off ODI in Belfast on Aug 27 before a five-match series against England starting Sept 3. The squad will play a lone T20I against England on Aug 31.

Australia squad: 

Steve Smith (c), Ashton Agar, George Bailey, Joe Burns, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Patrick Cummins, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Marsh, James Pattinson, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, Shane Watson, David Warner, Cameron Boyce (T20I only).