After their Ashes campaign was derailed by injury, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood were chosen in a spin-heavy provisional Australian squad for this year’s Twenty20 World Cup on Thursday.
As he gradually recovers from a lower back problem, Test captain Cummins only participated in one of the five Ashes Tests against England, in Adelaide, while Hazlewood (Achilles) missed the entire series.
Later this month, Cummins will undergo another back scan to assess his suitability for the competition in India and Sri Lanka, which starts on February 7.
Big-hitter Tim David (hamstring) and Hazlewood are both on the road to recovery, but they are expected to be fit and ready.
“Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Tim David are tracking well and we are confident they will be available for the World Cup,” chief selector George Bailey said.
“This is a preliminary squad so should changes need to be made they will ahead of the support period.”
Chief tweaker Adam Zampa, part-time Glenn Maxwell, and left-arm spinners Matt Kuhnemann and Cooper Connolly were added to a mostly fixed 15-man squad.
All of Australia’s group stage games will be in Sri Lanka, where spin-friendly surfaces are anticipated.
Surprisingly, Australia decided not to replace left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc, who has retired from the 20-over game, with a backup wicketkeeper for Josh Inglis.
Cummins and Hazlewood, together with all-rounders Cameron Green and Marcus Stoinis, Nathan Ellis, and Xavier Bartlett, lead the fast-bowling attack. They’re all right-handers.
“The T20 side has enjoyed a long run of recent success which enabled the panel to choose a balance of players across the variety of conditions Sri Lanka and India may present,” Bailey added.
On February 11, Australia will play their first match against Ireland in Colombo.
Before the World Cup, they will select a different team for a Twenty20 series against Pakistan.
Squad: Mitchell Marsh (Capt.), Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Pat Cummins, Tim David, Cameron Green, Nathan Ellis, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Short, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa
