Australia vs Sri Lanka: Kurtis Patterson added to the squad for the Test series

Two back to back hundreds in the warm-up game against Sri Lanka have put Kurtis Patterson on the verge of making his Test debut as Australia have added the in-form southpaw in their squad. Patterson remained unbeaten in both the innings of the three-day day-night contest, scoring 157 and 102. On the other hand, the likes of Joe Burns, Matt Renshaw and Will Pucovski, who are already part of the Test squad, failed to make much of an impression.

Patterson’s inclusion means Australia will have three uncapped players in their squad for the series against the Islanders. The other two uncapped players are Jhye Richardson, who replaced injured Josh Hazlewood, and Pucovski. Patterson, who averages 41 in first-class cricket, has so far amassed 3,813 runs in 58 first-class games with the help of 6 tons.

“The National Selection Panel has added Kurtis Patterson to the squad for the upcoming Test series against Sri Lanka,” National Selector Trevor Hohns said on Monday (January 21). “Kurtis has been pushing his case for selection for some time, he has been a consistent top order player for New South Wales, was a member of the Australian A tour of India prior to the commencement of our summer, and was most recently selected to compete in the day-night tour match against Sri Lanka in Hobart.

The left-hander will join the squad today in their preparations for the opening Test – a day-night encounter at The Gabba from Thursday (January 24). The second and final Test will be played at Manuka Oval in Canberra from February 1.

A battle between the evens

Both Australia and Sri Lanka are going through tough times in the game right now. They are entering this series after suffering defeats in their last Test assignments. While Australia lost against India at home for the first time in their history, Sri Lanka arrived in Australia following the 1-0 loss in New Zealand. Neither of the teams are looking settled at the moment and the upcoming series provides both of them a good opportunity to register a much-needed win.

Sri Lanka, meanwhile, have a dreadful record in Australia. They have visited the country six times but have returned empty-handed every time. So far, they have played 13 Tests in the country and have lost 11 while drawing the other two. But they will draw confidence from the last meeting of the two teams which they won 3-0 in 2016. The first Test will start from January 24 followed by the second match which will begin from February 1.

Updated Australia Test squad: Tim Paine (c & wk), Joe Burns, Pat Cummins, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Kurtis Patterson, Will Pucovski, Matt Renshaw, Jhye Richardson, Mitchell Starc, Peter Siddle.

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