Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood were on Thursday named in a spin-heavy provisional Australian squad for this year’s Twenty20 World Cup after their Ashes campaign was ruined by injury.
Test skipper Cummins only played one of the five Ashes Tests against England, in Adelaide, as he slowly recovers from a lower back issue, while Hazlewood (Achilles) missed the entire series.
Cummins will have another scan on his back later this month to determine whether he will be fit for the tournament in India and Sri Lanka beginning on February 7.
Hazlewood and big-hitter Tim David (hamstring) are also on the comeback trail, but are expected to be 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.”
Left-arm spinners Matt Kuhnemann and Cooper Connolly were additions to a largely settled 15-man squad, alongside chief tweaker Adam Zampa and part-timer Glenn Maxwell.
Australia’s group-stage matches are all being played in Sri Lanka with the expectation of spin-friendly surfaces.
In a surprise, Australia opted against a back-up wicketkeeper for Josh Inglis and no left-arm pace replacement for Mitchell Starc, who has retired from the 20-over game.
The fast-bowling attack is led by Cummins and Hazlewood, along with Nathan Ellis and Xavier Bartlett, plus all-rounders Cameron Green and Marcus Stoinis. All are 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.
Australia open their account on February 11 in Colombo against Ireland.
They will name a separate squad for a T20 series against Pakistan that precedes the World Cup.
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
