Despite rumours and calls for his selection for Test cricket, Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell will remain a white-ball player, as Cricket Australia (CA) announced its sides for the five-week multi-format tour of Sri Lanka.
Andrew McDonald’s first tour as permanent head coach has resulted in significant changes in all three formats. Pat Cummins will captain a 16-man squad for the two-Test series in Galle, while Aaron Finch will lead an extended white-ball group.
Marcus Harris was left out of the Test squad after losing his place at the top of the order to Usman Khawaja during the Australian summer.
Cummins will miss the T20 leg to prepare for the Test and ODI series, while Adam Zampa will miss the tour to give birth to his first child.
Following Justin Langer’s resignation, McDonald oversaw the team on an interim basis in Pakistan, winning the Test series 1-0 as part of the World Test Championship and claiming the sole T20I in a successful tour.
Despite rumours and calls for his selection for the Test leg of the trip, Glenn Maxwell has been named to both the ODI and T20I squads.
With World Test Championship points on the line, the tourists cannot afford a repeat of their previous visit to Sri Lanka, which ended in a 3-0 thrashing. Galle was not a happy hunting ground for Australia in the second Test of the series, as they were bowled out for 106 and 183, ultimately losing by 229 runs. On the white-ball front, the tourists fared better, winning both the T20I and ODI series convincingly.
The tour is one of three overseas trips planned for the Australian team in 2022, which will also visit India for the Border-Gavaskar series in October. An Australia A squad will also visit Sri Lanka, where they will play two one-day and four-day matches.
Australian Test squad: Pat Cummins (c), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner.
Australian ODI squad: Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner.
Australian T20I Squad: Aaron Finch (c) Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner, Matthew Wade
(Inputs from IANS)