Australia has included back stalwarts and picked four spinners in an extended 23-man squad named Monday for a white-ball tour of the West Indies in July. Under teh captaincy of Aaron Finch, the team features Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, David Warner and Pat Cummins, who all missed the recent trip to New Zealand. The whirlwind tour is scheduled to be commencing with 5 T20Is in St Lucia on July 9 and ended with three ODIs in Barbados on July 24 as the teams prepare for the T20 World Cup in India later this year.
Marnus Labuschagne however hasn’t been included in the squad, due to the “logistical complexities” of joining the squad from the UK, which would necessitate him to undergo two weeks of quarantine.
Explaining the decision, selector Trevor Hohns said, “Had we not been in the middle of a global pandemic Marnus would be on this tour as a well-established member and important part of the one-day side. It’s an unfortunate circumstance of the many challenges the world is facing right now.”
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Mitch Swepson is one of three leg-spinners with 19-year-old Tanveer Sanga and Adam Zampa. The southpaw all-rounder, Ashton Agar was also selected in a squad that is expected to be trimmed to 18 players before leaving the country.
Explaining teh same, Trevor Hohns said, “Swepson has been in exceptional form across all three forms of the game. Tanveer Sanga was extremely impressive for the (Sydney) Thunder and we regard him very highly. While he didn’t play in New Zealand it was a great opportunity for a young bowler to be around the group.”
Cricket Australia said discussions were taking place about the possibility of adding a tour to Bangladesh after the visit to the West Indies.
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Australia squad: Aaron Finch (captain), Ashton Agar, Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Moises Henriques, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Riley Meredith, Josh Philippe, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Tanveer Sangha, D’Arcy Short, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Andrew Tye, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa.
