Australia announce preliminary squad for WI, Bangladesh tour with surprise additions

As per Australia cricket schedule, the Australian cricket team is set to tour West Indies in July for a five-match T20I series followed by a three-match ODI series. Subsequently, the Men in Yellow will travel to Bangladesh in August where they will compete with the hosts in a five-game T20I series. Three weeks ago, Cricket Australia (CA) had released a list of 23 players (to be whittled down nearer to the dates of departure) that will tour the West Indies and Bangladesh.

Australia cricket update: Cricket Australia add six players to Windies and Bangladesh squads

Most of the old guard made it into the Australia squad for West Indies series and Bangladesh, however, there were also some notable new additions in the squad. According to the latest development, CA have added six more players to the preliminary Australia squad for West Indies series and Bangladesh tour, thus taking the number of players to 29. The six players who have been added to the Australia tour of Bangladesh and Windies are Dan Christian, Cameron Green, Wes Agar, Ashton Turner, Ben McDermott and Nathan Ellis and the announcement about the same was made by the board on Twitter.

The 29-man squad for the Australia tour of Bangladesh and Windies announced by CA will be led by the side's permanent post-Sandpapergate white-ball skipper, Aaron Finch. Unsurprisingly, the core of the team's batting lineup will be made up of the legendary duo of Steve Smith and David Warner, who had average runs at the IPL 2021 before its suspension. However, missing in action at the top will be Marnus Labuschagne, who is currently playing for Glamorgan County at the ongoing English County Championships. Logistical issues are said to be the reason by CA for excluding him.

The all-rounders will be brought up by the extremely in-form Glenn Maxwell, Dan Christian, Cameron Green and Marcus Stoinis, who has found himself in the team despite being dropped from CA's central contracts for 2021. Matthew Wade, Mitchell Marsh, D’Arcy Short, Ashton Turner and Ben McDermott will also be in contention for the middle order spots. 

Coming to the bowling department, with the location of the T20 World Cup 2021 still undecided, CA has also announced an extended bowlers list. The fast bowlers will include regulars like Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc along with Kane Richardson, Jhye Richardson, Andrew Tye, Wes Agar and Nathan Ellis as options. The spinners will be led by the duo of Adam Zampa and Ashton Agar, who are among the highest-ranked spinners in the world. They will be joined by Mitchell Swepson and Tanveer Sanga who have had great domestic and BBL outings in the past year.

SOURCE: CRICKET.COM.AU