After a long halt, international cricket has returned in grand fashion. England and West Indies kicked-off the three-match Test series in Southampton with the visitors winning the first game. After the completion of the Test series against West Indies, England will face Ireland and Pakistan in the coming months.
Now, Cricket Australia (CA) is also planning to begin a white-ball series with England. And for the same, CA has announced a 26-man preliminary squad for the UK tour scheduled to take place in September.
Top-order batsman Usman Khawaja and power-striker Glenn Maxwell have been included in the squad along with all-rounder Marcus Stoinis. It would be an excellent opportunity for both Khawaja and Stoinis as they recently lost their national contracts. Fast bowler Andre Tye, who was left out of Western Australia’s state contracts list, has also been added in the preliminary squad.
Josh Philippe and Daniel Sams, who grabbed everyone’s attention in the last Big Bash League (BBL)season, have also been included in the squad along with paceman Riley Meredith.
However, left-handed batsman Shaun Marsh, pacer Nathan Coulter-Nile, and middle-order batter Peter Handscomb, who all played for Australia in the last year’s World Cup, have been omitted.
A final squad will be announced if the tour gets confirmation as the cricketing body of both the nations along with the relevant government organisations are currently in discussion. It would also be Australia’s first series since the coronavirus pandemic stopped all the cricketing actions in early March.
Here is the preliminary list:
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, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa.
