Australia has shortlisted 21 players for One-Day and T20 series to be played against England in the month of September. This has proved that Australia is a professional team in the real sense of the term, and is determined to achieve good results.
While selecting the players, Australia has taken into consideration certain big and important things. First, those who performed superbly in the domestic Sheffield Shield league of Australia have been taken on board. It doesn’t matter whether these players get a chance or not to play against England cricketers, but they will definitely get a chance to do net practice and spend some time with senior cricketers. And, this is what is important as far as budding players are concerned.
Riley Meredith, Josh Philippe and Daniel Sams are some of the players who entered the national team by dint of wonderful performance in first class cricket. Riley Meredith is a righthand batsman, while Daniel Sams is a left-hand pacer. Sams has become more important in the team ever since the exit of left-hand fast bowler Jason Behrendorf from the team. He will be included in the 14-member Australian team soon. Josh Philippe is a wicketkeeper.
Secondly, Australia does not categorise bowlers as specialized either in one day matches and or in test matches separately. In a display of this strategy, two test class spinners have been included in the team along with leg spinner Adam Zampa. One of them is Nathan Lyon who was under consideration for one day matches even before the world cup, while he had played hardly ten ODIs in the last six to seven years. Likewise, Ashton Agar, who is known for his test performance, has been shortlisted for the team with the purpose of making spin bowling attack more diversified. Similarly, test specialist wicketkeeper Alex Carey has been shortlisted along with another wicketkeeper Matthew Wade. Seven pacers have been shortlisted in the team. Pacer Past Cummins, who is number 1 in world ranking, and fast bowler Mitchell Starc are there in the team. At the same time, Josh Hazlewood is also in the team, who is skilled to bowl in accordance with conditions in England. Popular for calculated bowling Kane Richardson is skilled to show variety in his deliveries, and western Australia’s Andrew Tye is famous for ‘naqal ball’. Tye has been seen delivering fast spells for Gujarat Lions and King’s Eleven, now he will be seen bowling for Rajasthan Royals in UAE.
Hence, Riley Meredith and Daniel Sams have a lot to learn from these pacers. Well-known all-rounder Marcus Stoinis and Glenn Maxwell give Australia an added strength. They are one of the best batsmen of the world. The top four of Australia are being counted among the world’s best batsmen at a time when top orders of several teams including England can be seen struggling.
Australia squad: Aaron Finch (captain), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Riley Meredith, Josh Philippe, Daniel Sams, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa.