Jon Holland replaces Ashton Agar in Australia A squad

22-year old Western Australian spinner Ashton Agar has been ruled out of the upcoming quadrangular series and is expected to undergo a shoulder surgery later this month. Agar will miss the Australia A winter series and the Matador One-Day Cup. Jon Holland, the Victorian spinner, will replace Agar in Australia’s A squad. The same was confirmed by Cricket Australia’s manager for Sports medicine and sports science Alex Kountouris.

“We expect that he will not play cricket for the next 3-4 months, but the time-frames will become clearer as we monitor his recovery from the procedure,” Kountouris said on Friday. Reports go on to suggest that a 13-man squad has been named and will include Peter Handscombe and Cameron Bancroft as captain and vice-captain respectively. Rod Marsh, the chief selector also added that the squad was indeed brimming with talent.

“Peter Handscomb and Cameron Bancroft both have had impressive seasons and demonstrated strong leadership skills which confirm their appointments of captain and vice-captain respectively,” he said. “It is important that we continue to build our arsenal of quality fast-bowlers and this squad features some new faces such as Joe Mennie and Dan Worrall, both of whom have impressed at Shield level.”

“Jon had an impressive Sheffield Shield season taking eight wickets during Victoria’s win in the final and was Victoria’s top wicket-taker at the Matador Cup, earning him the Dean Jones Medal at the end of the season,” he said. “We are lucky enough to have some talented young up-and- coming batsmen performing well.

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This combined with the experience of Scott Boland and Marcus Stoinis at the national level bolsters the squad nicely.”