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Cricket Australia (CA) on Wednesday, July 30 announced their white-ball squads for the upcoming South Africa series, set to commence from August 10 in Darwin. Notably, the series consists of three T20I and as many ODIs, set to be played across three different venues, namely Darwin, Cairns and Mackay until August 24.
While the team from Down Under will be led by Mitchell Marsh, their white-ball captain, it will be without the likes of red-ball captain Pat Cummins as well as veteran pacer Mitchell Starc, both of whom have been rested seeing the gruelling Ashes series set to be played later in the year. While the two key players will remain on the sidelines, the squad have seen the inclusion of Travis Head and Josh Hazlewood.
Travis Head and Josh Hazlewood return; Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc miss out
While these have been some surprising calls, Matt Short, who missed the West Indies T20I series after injuring himself, has returned into the setup. Moreover, Mitchell Owen, who recently earned his maiden call-up for the West Indies tour, also gets his first chance at ODI selection.
Several players, who travelled to West Indies recently, have been dropped for the upcoming series, including the likes of Sean Abbott, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Tanveer Sangha, Cooper Connolly and Aaron Hardie. Speaking of the same, Australia selection chair George Bailey said, as quoted in the release, “The smaller squad for home series, along with the return of Travis Head and Josh Hazlewood, see some players ot part of the squad for this top end series, but all remain in the frame moving forward and we feel the entire group embraced every opportunity.”
Australia’s white-ball squad for South Africa series
T20I squad: Mitchell Marsh (c), Sean Abbott, Tim David, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matt Kuhnemann, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Owen, Matthew Short, Adam Zampa
ODI squad: Mitchell Marsh (c), Xavier Bartlett, Alex Carey, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Lance Morris, Mitchell Owen, Matthew Short, Adam Zampa
