Reshuffled Australia weighs Champions Trophy candidates in opposition to Sri Lanka

After sweeping the check collection in Sri Lanka, an injury-depleted Australia will look to hold the momentum into ODI matches in opposition to the South Asians and construct confidence forward of the Champions Trophy.

Selectors will affirm Australia’s closing Champions Trophy squad on Wednesday as a bevy of fringe gamers look to impress within the first of two ODIs in opposition to Sri Lanka in Colombo.

With the Sri Lanka tour following an extended, attritional house summer season, Australia’s Champions Trophy roster may have a unique look to the peerless squad that took a record-extending sixth World Cup title on the 2023 event in India.

Common captain Pat Cummins, fellow fast Josh Hazlewood and all-rounder Mitch Marsh have been dominated out with accidents, whereas Marcus Stoinis was a late withdrawal final week after his shock retirement from ODIs.

Selectors responded by calling up a small military of reserves for the Sri Lanka collection, including quick bowlers Sean Abbott, Spencer Johnson and Ben Dwarshuis together with legspinner Tanveer Sangha, spin-bowling all-rounder Cooper Connolly and batter Jake Fraser-McGurk.

Selectors have but to determine on Cummins’ substitute as captain, although coach Andrew McDonald confirmed will probably be both Steve Smith, who led the check facet in Cummins’s absence, or Travis Head.

Different choices stay up within the air even when recent faces within the bowling are assured.

The worldwide ambitions of Australia’s reserve quicks have lengthy been thwarted by the sturdiness and consistency of the front-line trio of Cummins, Hazlewood and Starc.

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Nonetheless, at the very least two of Abbott, Johnson and Dwarshuis are anticipated to be included within the Champions Trophy, becoming a member of pacers Mitchell Starc and Nathan Ellis for the event co-hosted by Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates.

With Starc virtually sure to be rested for Wednesday’s ODI as a result of fast turnaround from the second check, fellow left-armers Johnson and Dwarshuis could hope for a final likelihood to impress selectors in his place.

The hard-hitting Fraser-McGurk is in line to exchange Marsh at quantity three within the batting order, whereas Connolly could also be retained within the Champions Trophy squad as a substitute for Stoinis even when he lacks the all-rounder’s seam bowling.

Selectors need all of Australia’s check gamers included within the ODI squad to play at the very least one of many Colombo matches to get into the rhythm of the shorter format, even when the venue’s spin-friendly situations could also be fairly completely different to these in Pakistan.

Australia opens its Champions Trophy marketing campaign in opposition to England in Lahore on Feb. 22, with it different group matches in opposition to South Africa and Afghanistan additionally in Pakistan.

McDonald stated it could be a nice steadiness tuning up the squad for the Feb. 19-March 9 event because the selectors look to select a crew that may proceed to construct momentum in Sri Lanka.

“You need to play to win, there’s little doubt about that as a result of successful kind at all times helps the arrogance of a gaggle,” he informed Cricket Australia’s web site.

“The consideration is the situations (in Colombo) are doubtlessly considerably completely different to what we get in Pakistan.

“Final time we got here right here (in 2022) it spun sq. within the one-day collection, so hopefully they’re flatter surfaces for us to organize, however who is aware of.”