Australia name 3 uncapped players in 21-man squad for England tour

Cricket Australia has announced a 21-man squad for the upcoming England tour. The selectors have picked three uncapped players, Josh Phillipe, Daniel Sams and Riley Meredith, in the team. Australia are set to play three T20Is and as many ODIs in England starting from September 4. This also marks their return to international after six long months having last played at home against New Zealand in March.

Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis and Nathan Lyon also return to the squad which is trimmed from the earlier strength of 26. Maxwell hasn’t played international cricket since October after pulling out for mental health reasons while Stoinis was dropped from the team after the World Cup. Andrew Tye is another notable inclusion to the squad. He last played an international game in 2018.

Five players to miss out from the earlier 26-man group are, D’Arcy Short, Michael Neser, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja and Ben McDermott according to cricket.com.au.

Non IPL-bound players to quarantine for two weeks on return

Soon after the series, the Australia players with IPL contracts will fly to the UAE to play for their respective teams. However, the other members of the squad will return home and quarantine themselves for two weeks according to the government regulations. They will not be able to join their state teams until the beginning of October as well.

As for the rest of the squad, Aaron Finch will continue to lead the limited-overs sides with the likes of Steve Smith, David Warner and Pat Cummins also being the part. Among others, D’Arcy Short’s omission raises eyebrows as he had performed decently in the limited chances.

Australia will reach Derbyshire on August 24 and then move to Southampton on August 27 post the conclusion of the ongoing Test series between England and Pakistan. The visitors will play four practice matches (1 50-over and 3 T20) in the lead up to the series. The three T20Is will be played on September 4, 6 and 8 at The Ageas Bowl while the ODI series will start on September 11. The other two One-Day Internationals are scheduled on September 13 and 16.

Australia’s 21-man squad for England tour: 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.