Left-arm pacer Daniel Sams has been added to Australia’s T20I squad for the upcoming five-match home series against Sri Lanka. Sams has replaced batter Travis Head, who was the ‘Player of the Series’ in the recently-concluded Ashes.
Head has been released from the Aussies’ T20I outfit to brush up his red-ball skills in the Sheffield Shield for South Australia in order to prepare for the all-format tour of Pakistan later this month.
However, Head will not miss the entire series against the Lankans as he will be available for selection for the final two T20Is.
Notably, Sams was one of the reserve players in the Australian squad for the T20 World Cup last year. He appeared in 15 Big Bash League (BBL) games in the last edition and picked up 19 wickets. Sams was also impressed with the bat, scoring 191 runs in the tournament, including an unbeaten 98 against Melbourne Renegades.
The T20I leg against Sri Lanka is starting February 11 in Sydney. The first two games will be played at Sydney Cricket Ground, while the third match will take place at Manuka Oval in Canberra. Similarly, the final two games will be hosted by the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground.
The fans will miss the presence of star all-rounder Mitchell Marsh and opening batter David Warner, who have been rested for the series. Although, fast bowler Josh Hazlewood is making a comeback while Ben McDermott has also received a call-up. Notably, McDermott was picked in the group on the bank of his successful BBL 11. The right-handed batter finished BBL 2021-22 as the leading run-getter with 577 runs in just 13 games at an average of 48.
Australia squad: Aaron Finch (captain), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head*, Moises Henriques, Josh Inglis, Ben McDermott, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Daniel Sams, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa
*unavailable for first three matches
