All-rounders Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis have been excluded from a 25-player squad for an intra-Australia clash that will go a long way to deciding the makeup of Tim Paine's Ashes side. Both Maxwell and Stoinis had a disappointing World Cup during Australia's run to the semi-finals in England, with Maxwell wearing plenty of criticism for his repeated failures with the bat.
The extended squad has seven players from the World Cup campaign, 15 from the Australia A squad touring England and three players - pace bowler Peter Siddle, and batsmen Cameron Bancroft and Marnus Labuschagne - who have been playing in the English county circuit. Players from the squad will be picked in an Australia versus. Australia A clash from July 23-26 in Southampton, with Ashes spots on the line ahead of the first test against England on August 1 in Edgbaston.
Former captain Steve Smith and openers David Warner and Bancroft have all been included, the first time the three have been selected in an Australia squad since serving lengthy bans for the ball-tampering scandal in Cape Town in March, 2018. "Cameron (Bancroft) was making a fair amount of headway when he played test cricket last for Australia and that was in South Africa," said national selector Trevor Hohns.
"He's playing with Durham in the County Championship ... He's scoring runs on a pretty regular basis." Alex Carey is one of three wicketkeepers picked alongside test captain Paine and Tasmania's Matt Wade following a solid World Cup behind the stumps. Carey scored 375 runs at 62.50 and racked up 20 dismissals. "He's proving himself to be a very smart cricketer," said Hohns.
"Batting-wise he was very, very good. We've been very impressed with his glovework for some time now so he's progressing nicely." Usman Khawaja's participation in the trial match is uncertain as he races to recover from a hamstring strain sustained during the World Cup loss to South Africa.
Squad:
Cameron Bancroft, Jackson Bird, Joe Burns, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Jon Holland, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Michael Neser, Tim Paine, Kurtis Patterson, James Pattinson, Will Pucovski, Peter Siddle, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Chris Tremain, Matthew Wade, David Warner.
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