Australia adds six players to preliminary squad for West Indies and Bangladesh tours

The National Selection Panel of Cricket Australia has added six members to the preliminary squad of the team for the upcoming limited-overs tour of West Indies and Bangladesh amidst Covid-19 and bubble-fatigue concerns.

The addition of Ben McDermott, Dan Christian, Cameron Green, Ashton Turner, Wes Agar and Nathan Ellis takes the total squad strength to a massive 29, as 23 players were named earlier in the squad announced last month.

McDermott and Christian are currently in the UK for the ongoing County Championship, representing Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire respectively. They will return to Australia this week to complete the mandatory two-week quarantine period before the final squad departs for the Caribbean in late June, where Australia is set to play five T20Is from July 9-16, following which will be three ODIs from July 20-24.

The wellbeing of players, staff and officials is a top priority: Trevor Hohns

Addressing the reason behind the six new inclusions, Chief Selector Trevor Hohns said, “The six additions to the Australian men’s squad follow discussions with players selected in the initial preliminary list for the tours of the West Indies and Bangladesh.”

“During the course of those discussions, it has become clear that recent experiences abroad, including but not limited to extended periods in bio-secure hubs and hard quarantine, have had an impact on the health and wellbeing of some players and their families. CA has maintained that the wellbeing of players, staff and officials is a top priority,” he added.

“We are delighted to recall Ben, Dan, Cameron and Ashton and welcome Wes and Nathan onto the preliminary list of players for the scheduled Qantas Australian men’s tours of the West Indies and Bangladesh” noted Hohns regarding the addition of players.

Ben is a proven match-winner and powerful striker of the ball, particularly in the T20 format, and we believe that, at 26, his best cricket is still ahead of him. Dan is in arguably career-best form and was a crucial member of the Sydney Sixers’ BBL-winning squad this summer.”

“His selection is a testament to the hard work he has put in over many years. Cameron made his ODI debut last summer against India and the NSP believes he has tremendous potential in the white- and red-ball formats, while Ashton has performed well across his 17 ODI and T20I matches for Australia dating back to 2017.

Wes and Nathan, meanwhile, were among the leading wicket-takers during the summer’s BBL and are viewed by the NSP as players who could make a genuine impact at international level.”

Australia  preliminary squad

Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Wes Agar, Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey, Dan Christian, Pat Cummins, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Moises Henriques, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Josh Philippe, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Tanveer Sangha, D’Arcy Short, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa (Final squad is expected to be released in the week upcoming)