XtraTime Web Desk: The National Selection panel of Cricket Australia on Thursday included Glenn Maxwell in the 26 member preliminary squad. Australia is scheduled to travel to England to play a series involving three ODIs and T20Is. The highlight of the selection is the inclusion of Glenn Maxwell who took a break from cricket since October last year due to mental issues. Usman Khawaja too found a place in the preliminary squad. Khawaja is not in Cricket Australia’s contract list. Among the new names are Daniel Sams, Riley Meredith and Josh Philippe. A final squad will be revealed in September if the tour gets confirmed.
National Selector Trevor Hohns said the squad is not just for the England tour but has also been picked keeping in mind the T20 World Cup, which is looks set to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This preliminary list covers the contingencies of playing One-Day Internationals and T20 Internationals in bio-secure hubs with the likely prospect of not being able to bring in replacements should the tour proceed,” Hohns said.
He added, “The preliminary list also has a view towards the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup and in the longer term the 2023 ICC World Cup.”
Australia’s Preliminary Squad:
Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Aaron Finch, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Michael Neser, Josh Philippe, Daniel Sams, D’Arcy Short, Kane Richardson, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa.