Cricket Australia XI announced for day-night tour match against Pakistan

Cricket Australia has announced its 12-member squad which is set to take on Pakistan in a three-day day-night tour match in Cairns. Cricket Australia XI will be led by Western Australia’s Will Bosisto while Troy Cooley, who has been the bowling coach for both Australia and England in the past, will be the assistant coach. Former international batsman Brad Hodge will at the helm of the coaching staff.

The match is set to be play played next week. A struggling Pakistan, who recently lost 2-0 to New Zealand in New Zealand, will be desperate for some quality practice in Australia ahead of their three-Test series.

Cricket Australia informed in a release, “The pink ball match will be played from Thursday 8 December to Saturday 10 December at Cazaly’s Stadium, ahead of the Commonwealth Bank Day-Night Test against Pakistan, which begins on 15 December at The Gabba. The squad contains some of Australia’s best emerging talent, including seven players with full state contracts and four state-listed rookies.”

Arjun Nair, a teenager who was inspired by Sunil Narine and Ravichandran Ashwin in the IPL, has been selected in the XI, “Four players — Arjun Nair, Will Bosisto, Mark Steketee and Cameron Valente — have already played Sheffield Shield cricket during their careers, while 10 members of the squad played in this season’s Matador BBQs One-Day Cup. Six players represented the CA XI at the Matador BBQs Cup, including Bosisto, who passed 50 runs twice during the tournament, and Matthew Short, who has scored half-centuries for the CA XI and a Victorian XI in tour matches against South Africa during the past two months,” the release added.

The release continued, “A further four players — Steketee, Valente, Alex Gregory and Jimmy Peirson — represented their respective states in the Matador BBQs Cup, with all-rounder Valente scoring a century and claiming 15 wickets from six matches to be the tournament’s equal leading wicket-taker.

“Brad Hodge, who coached the CA XI during the Matador BBQs Cup, will coach the side for this tour match, with Bupa National Cricket Centre Head Coach Troy Cooley to be his assistant coach.”

“This is a really exciting challenge for these players to test themselves against a world-class opponent in Pakistan,” Cooley said. “Every member of this squad has played First Class, List A or Futures League cricket in the past 12 months, and we are confident that this opportunity will benefit these players as they look to press their claims for state selection, and hopefully in years to come, national honours. Already this season, we have seen some extremely positive signs as a result of players getting the opportunity to test themselves at a higher level of cricket through the CA XI, with Arjun Nair among the top ten wicket-takers in the Matador BBQs Cup and Ryan Gibson among the top ten run-scorers,” he added.

“Eight members of this squad passed 40 with the bat at least once during this season’s Matador BBQs Cup, which is just one sign of the talent that exists within this group of players. It is essential we continue to challenge players coming through the Australian Cricket Pathway by exposing them to a high level of cricket, and as a result, strengthen the depth of our playing stocks right across the country,” Cooley continued.

CA XI squad: Will Bosisto (captain) WA, Jake Carder WA, Alex Gregory SA, Josh Inglis WA, Ryan Lees TAS, Arjun Nair NSW, Jimmy Peirson QLD, Matthew Short VIC, Mark Steketee QLD, Cameron Valente SA, Cameron Wheatley TAS, Jake Winter SA.

Pakistan squad: Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), Azhar Ali, Sami Aslam, Sharjeel Khan, Younis Khan, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Mohammad Rizwan, Yasir Shah, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz, Rahat Ali, Sohail Khan, Imran Khan