AUS vs SL Tests: No Pat Cummins, Hazlewood, Marsh As Australia Announce 16-Man Squad For Sri Lanka Tour
Australia have announced the 16-man squad that will travel to Sri Lanka for the two-match Test series. Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Marsh are the notable absentees from the squad.
Cricket Australia (CA) has unveiled a 16-player squad for the upcoming two-Test away series against Sri Lanka, set to begin on January 29. This will be Australia's final red-ball series before they go to England to face South Africa in the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 final. Steve Smith will captain the Aussies in Sri Lanka as Pat Cummins will miss the series as he will be on paternity leave for the birth of his second child.
With Smith set to captain, batter Travis Head will be the vice captain for the visitors while Cooper Connolly, former captain of the Australia U19 Cricket World Cup team, has earned his first Test squad call-up.
No Cummins, Hazlewood, Marsh For Australia In Sri Lanka
Nathan McSweeney, who missed the Melbourne and Sydney Tests in the recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) Series, has been recalled and Sam Konstas also retains his spot in the squad. Spinners Matt Kuhnemann and Todd Murphy also make a return for the tour to support Nathan Lyon, given Sri Lankan decks are expected to offer assistance to spinners.
Mitchell Starc, Scott Boland and Sean Abbott are the only three frontline quicks Australia will go with. Josh Hazlewood remains sidelined with the injury that kept him out of the latter stages of the series against India, while Mitchell Marsh has been omitted from the squad.
Introducing our 16-player squad for our Qantas Men’s Tour of Sri Lanka 🇱🇰#SLvAUS pic.twitter.com/BUWJHr5Zz4
— Cricket Australia (@CricketAus) January 9, 2025
"Sri Lanka is a challenging and exciting place to tour given the different conditions players may be presented with. This squad provides several ways to structure the XI depending on what type of wickets we may encounter in each match. We are excited about the opportunity ahead for the squad members who are at the start of their Test careers to continue to grow their games in subcontinent conditions where we have a number of important tours in coming years," Australia’s chief selector George Bailey was quoted as saying.
Australia Test squad for Sri Lanka tour: Steven Smith, Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Matt Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Nathan McSweeney, Todd Murphy, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster
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