Australia has announced the squad for the two ODI series against Zimbabwe and New Zealand on home soil from August-September this year.
Test skipper Pat Cummins has been rested for both series. Batter Travis Head will also be absent as his partner is due to give birth to their first child.
Adam Zampa also makes his return to the squad after the birth of his first child. Bowler Sean Abbott also makes his return to the squad after recovering from a finger injury sustained in the nets during the start of the Sri Lanka tour.
Ashton Agar has also been included in the squad and has recovered from a side strain that curtailed his participation in the SL tour.
Spinner Mitchell Swepson and Matthew Kuhnemann, and pacer Jhye Richardson have been not included in the squad.
Cummins is being managed through a period of rehabilitation and physical preparation for the upcoming summer.
Kane Richardson, who injured his hamstring in late March on eve of the Pakistan tour, is also missing from the squad.
"These series against New Zealand, the world's No.1 ranked ODI side, and Zimbabwe will be good contests and provide an opportunity to play some great cricket in the lead-up to the home summer," Cricket.com.au quoted national selector George Bailey as saying.
Australia will play a three-game ODI series against Zimbabwe in Townsville starting on August 28 to September 3, and will then meet New Zealand in Cairns for three fixtures from September 6 to September 11.
This series will be part of the ICC Cricket World Cup Super League, in which Aussies sit at number eight with 70 points. Both were scheduled for mid-2020 and January 2021 respectively but were put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
These will be Australia's first ODI series on home soil since December 2020, when they played against India and won 2-1.
All three matches of the Zimbabwe series will be played in Riverway Stadium in Townsville and a special tribute to late Aussie all-rounder Andrew Symonds will be a part of the series.
All ODIs of the NZ series will be played in Cazaly Stadium at Cairns.
Australia ODI squad: Aaron Finch, Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa.
( With inputs from ANI )
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor
