Cricket Australia’s National Selection Panel (NSP) today announced two14-man squads for the Twenty20 and ODI component of Australia’s VB Tour of South Africa.
The 14-man Twenty20 squad is:
State
Age
Cameron White (c) VIC 28
Shane Watson (vc) NSW 30
Doug Bollinger NSW 30
Patrick Cummins NSW 18
Aaron Finch VIC 24
David Hussey VIC 34
Brett Lee NSW 34
Mitchell Marsh WA 19
Shaun Marsh WA 28
Stephen O’Keefe NSW 26
James Pattinson VIC 21
Steven Smith NSW 22
Matthew Wade VIC 23
David Warner NSW 24
The 14-man ODI squad is:
Michael Clarke (c) NSW 30
Shane Watson (vc) NSW 30
Doug Bollinger NSW 30
Patrick Cummins NSW 18
Xavier Doherty TAS 28
Brad Haddin NSW 33
Mike Hussey WA 36
Mitchell Johnson WA 29
Brett Lee NSW 34
Shaun Marsh WA 28
James Pattinson VIC 21
Ricky Ponting TAS 36
Steven Smith NSW 22
David Warner NSW 24
NSP Chairman Andrew Hilditch said: “We consider we have picked an extremely strong Twenty20 squad, which has a good balance of experience and exciting young talent. There is flexibility in the squad to deal with conditions in South Africa as we continue to prepare for theICC World Twenty20, which is only a year away.
“The retirement of Brad Haddinfrom International Twenty20 and the injury to Tim Paine, has given a well-deserved opportunity to Matthew Wade. Matthew is an extremely exciting keeper batsman who is very well equipped for Twenty20 cricket and we think he will have an immediate impact on the international scene.
“John Hastings was unavailable through injury. This has given a great opportunity to Patrick Cummins to come into the Twenty20 squad. Patrick is a very exciting fast bowler and was one of the youngest players ever to receive an Australian contract this year. We are very confident he will succeed at international level.
“The squad also sees the addition of Mitchell Marsh, an extremely talented and exciting all-rounder. Mitchell played extremely well on the recent Australia A tour of Zimbabwe and his all-round skills with bat and ball are well suited to Twenty20 cricket. We think he’s ready for the international stage.
“Mitchell Johnson was not selected for the Twenty20 squad. Mitchell has struggled in this format of the game to date. Most Twenty20 internationals have been at the start of tours and Mitchell has not always been at his best in these matches. Obviously Mitchell has a great skill set for Twenty20 cricket and we are sure he will put alot of pressure on us to pick him in the future in the Twenty20 team. His place has gone to Doug Bollinger, who is very experienced in this form of the game and his consistentperformances in Twenty20 cricket have led to him forcing his way into the side.
“With respect to the One-day squad, Australia has continued to be the number one ranked team in one day cricket over a lengthy period of time. The team’s performance in the One-day series in Sri Lanka was fantastic, but there have been two changes to that squad.
“John Hastings is injured and Patrick Cummins has been added to the One-day squad. It is an extremely exciting time in Australian cricket to see such young talent forcing its way into the Australian squads.
“Unfortunately David Hussey has been omitted from the One-day squad. David was picked for Sri Lanka as we thought he would be very well suited to the conditions, being an excellent player of spin bowling and having the ability to bowl valuable overs of spin. We did not think that David quite took his opportunity in Sri Lanka and his place has been taken by David Warner. David’s form has been irresistible recently and he deserves this opportunity in the one day squad.
“The NSP would like to take the opportunity to congratulate the Australian players for their series victories in both the ODIs and Test matches in Sri Lanka. There are few harder assignments in world cricket than playing Sri Lanka on their home soil and the results were really a great credit to the playing group.
“As we stated before the Sri Lankan tour, there was a quiet optimism about the group having come off three extremely good training camps prior to the tour. Tim Nielsen and his coaching group have worked tirelessly since the disappointment of the Ashes and the coaching group together with the leadership and the playing group should be congratulated on their efforts in Sri Lanka. It is a very positive sign for the future of Australian cricket.
“Lastly, the NSP would like to thank Tim Nielsenfor his significant role in Australian cricket. Tim coached the side to victory in the most recent ICC Champions Trophy, the final of the ICC World Twenty20, and during his time in charge the side has maintained its position as number one ODI side. While there have obviously been disappointments,perhaps one of his greatest achievements was the way in which the coaching staff and the playing group re-grouped after the Ashes culminating in the One-day and Test series victories in Sri Lanka.
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