The Australian opener, Aaron Finch will be leading the ODI squad in the series against South Africa as he has replaced Tim Paine for the three-match series starting in November. The series also marks the returns of Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins to international cricket, with Hazlewood and Alex Carey being the two vice-captains. However, Mitchell Marsh has been rested for the series.
Earlier in the series against New Zealand, Finch led the Australian ODI squad, but after the ball-tampering scandal, Paine was announced as Test and ODI skipper and led Australia to a 0-5 series defeat in England earlier this year. However, he is performing the role of the T20I skipper as well and it seems that he will now lead Australia in the 2019 World Cup as well.
The Australian chief selector, Trevor Hohns said, “As was the case when we announced the Test and T20 captains and vice-captains recently, the selection was based on their strong presentations which outlined their leadership credentials, the actions they have displayed on and off the field and the vision they have for Australian cricket. We expect Aaron, Josh and Alex to lead the side through a big Australian summer, where we’ll meet South Africa and India, they’ll also be driving our standards and values as we prepare our defence of the World Cup, which is only seven months away.”
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Hazlewood and Cummins have been preparing for the ODI series in the Futures League rather than the Sheffield Shield. They will get the company of Mitchell Starc and Nathan Coulter-Nile as Andrew Tye has been dropped from the squad. Shaun Marsh and Travis Head have also been named as expected with no concerns that their preparation for the India Test series will be compromised. Chris Lynn also returns to the ODI squad after an outstanding JLT Cup for Queensland.
Talking about them, Trevor said, “Chris made it clear he wanted to be considered for the World Cup, and he backed it up with his performances for Queensland in the JLT Cup. He was the highest run scorer of the tournament and has been rewarded for his consistency.”
Ashton Agar and Adam Zampa will be performing the spinner duties as they have in the UAE. Glenn Maxwell and D’Arcy Short have also retained their places.
Australia ODI squad to face South Africa
Aaron Finch (capt), Josh Hazlewood (vc), Alex Carey (vc), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Travis Head, Chris Lynn, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, D’Arcy Short, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa
