SYDNEY: Australia’s Twenty20 captain Mitchell Marsh and his Test teammates will skip the three-match series against Pakistan in November as they prepare for the blockbuster clash against India in the longest format of the game.
None of Australia’s Test regulars were included in the squad for the matches in Brisbane, Sydney and Hobart when it was announced on Monday, leaving them free to prepare for the start of the first Test against India in Perth on Nov. 22.
Cricket Australia said some T20 players could join the Test squad after the final T20 at Bellerive Oval on Nov. 18, but head selector George Bailey later said that was just a contingency plan in case of injuries.
“We’ve been really clear that we are prioritising the preparation for individuals around the Test summer,” Bailey told reporters in a video call.
“We were just being clear that if (something) does shift, that we can get someone across to Perth.”
That will be a blow for the likes of Josh Inglis and Glenn Maxwell, who might have held out some hope of a Test call-up to fill the batting spot left open by the season-ending injury to Cameron Green.
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Steve Smith will drop down the order to replace the all-rounder at number four in the Test side, leaving a vacancy in the opening partnership alongside Usman Khawaja.
Bailey, however, said the selectors did not see Inglis as a potential Test opener.
“I don’t think that he’s someone that we’d be looking to place at the top of the order, but there’s no doubt that his form is really fantastic at the moment,’ he said.
“He would firmly come into the mix purely as a batter .. and I think if the right opportunity opened up throughout the summer … in the spots where we think he’s most capable of performing, then I think he’d be firmly in that conversation.”
Seamers Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis and Spencer Johnson all return to the T20 squad after injuries sustained before or during the white-ball tour of England and Scotland in September.
Bailey said the captain of the team would be announced closer to the opening match of the series at the Gabba on Nov. 14.
“I think there’s a number of players with the ability to captain, and some that have had some captaincy experience as well,” he added.
Australia squad: Sean Abbott, Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Aaron Hardie, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Short, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa
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