Australia name preliminary squad ahead of possible England tour

Australia were due to tour through July for three ODIs and three T20Is, but that trip was postponed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic

The uncapped trio of Riley Meredith, Daniel Sams and Josh Philippe have been named in an enlarged 26-man preliminary list as Australia begin their preparations for a return to match action.

While not yet confirmed, discussions are ongoing between Cricket Australia and the ECB over a possible series in the United Kingdom in September. Australia were due to tour through July for three ODIs and three T20Is, but that trip was postponed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Should any series go ahead, Australia’s traveling party would likely have to face the same thorough measures being experienced by the West Indies tourists, as well as Pakistan who have already arrived ahead of an August Test series.

With that possibility in mind, Australia have picked a wide group to account for the bio-secure bubble, where drafting reserve players in is not an option. West Indies initially picked 11 reserves, though Shannon Gabriel transferred into the main squad ahead of the first Test at the Ageas Bowl.

A final squad will only be named as and when a tour is confirmed, but alongside the three new faces, there is also a return for Glenn Maxwell, who hasn’t played international cricket since October, and left-handers Travis Head and Usman Khawaja, both of whom have been out of the white-ball picture in recent times.

There is no place, however, for Peter Handscomb, Shaun Marsh, Nathan Coulter-Nile or Jason Behrendorff – all of whom were part of last year’s World Cup squad. Behrendorff, though, was not considered due to injury.

^{Josh Philippe is among the uncapped players named in the 26-man group}

Ben Oliver, Cricket Australia’s executive general manager of national teams, said: “The ECB are a long-standing and valued international cricket partner and we are doing all we can to give the tour the best possible chance of taking place.

“We continue to work with the ECB and government agencies and a decision on the tour will be made in due course.

“In the meantime, the identification of a preliminary list will enable us to work with players and states more directly on the preparation for the tour in the hope it can proceed.

“The health and wellbeing of players and staff, along with our commitment to public health within our communities, remain our utmost priority.”

Selector Trevor Hohns added: “This preliminary list covers the contingencies of playing one-day internationals and T20 internationals in bio-secure hubs with the likely prospect of not being able to bring in replacements should the tour proceed.

“The preliminary list includes several exciting young players who have recently excelled at state level and in the BBL. These emerging players are those we would like to develop further as we believe they have a bright future in Australian cricket.

“The preliminary list also has a view towards the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup and in the longer term the 2023 ICC World Cup.”

Australia's preliminary squad: 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, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa.

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