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Aussies in good Head space for 'A' tour

Australia A have been kept indoors as wet weather forces opening match to be abandoned

Australia's A tour of India has gotten off to a soggy start, with the first two matches of the quadrangular one-day series abandoned.

The Travis Head captained Australia A team were due to play their first match on Friday afternoon in Vijayawada against India A, but heavy rainfall in the region lead officials to declare the ground unfit to play on until Sunday.

Australia A will now face South Africa A in their opening match, providing the rains hold off, with teams splitting the points from the first match.

South Africa A's opening match against India B has also been called off.

The wet weather has kept the Aussies training indoors, and captain Head said the team was as prepared as they could possibly be.

"We're looking forward to getting underway. It can be a tough place to tour, but I think the boys are ready – we've prepared well," Head said.

"It was one of the better tour lead-ups I've had. The way the guys were batting, bowling, the plans we were coming up with, the way we spoke, was all really good.

"We're fresh and ready to go."

The series represents a chance for the names in the 15-man squad to push their case for senior Australia honours with next year's World Cup looming ever closer on the horizon.

Australia suffered a 0-5 reverse against England in June, and have about a dozen 50-over fixtures before the World Cup tournament, starting with South Africa at home in November.

With positions up for grabs in the one-day team, Head said the opportunities to push for higher honours were not lost on the 'A' squad.

"There's every chance a lot of these guys could be playing for Australia in the next 12 months, in the lead-up to the World Cup, so that's exciting for them and exciting for this tour," the South Australian said.

"We haven't had a lot of success in the last 12 to 18 months in one-day cricket and we want to change that here.

"If we can have that focus on winning, I think guys will perform and they'll find themselves in the Australian cricket team."

Head's leadership skills are highly rated in Australian cricket, and he was named the youngest ever South Australia captain in 2015 at just 21. Leading the Australia A tour also affords him a chance to develop his captaincy in international cricket.

National captain Tim Paine will lead Australia's Test side in their next engagement against Pakistan in the UAE in October, but was a temporary appointment to the ODI leadership for the England tour, the first series since the Cape Town ball tampering scandal.

Neither Paine nor head coach Justin Langer are in India with the 'A' squad, but the team have been given a clear mandate to continue the approach set by the new leadership duo.

"It's just a progression from England and the messages that JL and Painey were pushing," Head explained.

"Continuing to learn, communicate, be professional – just instilling all the values we were doing in England and pushing them."

Australia A Tour of India

Australia A one-day squad: Travis Head (c), Alex Carey (vc), Ashton Agar, Peter Handscomb, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Michael Neser, Joel Paris, Matthew Renshaw, Jhye Richardson, D'Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Mitch Swepson, Chris Tremain, Jack Wildermuth

Schedule

One-day fixtures in Vijayawada

17 August v India A: Match abandoned

19 August v South Africa A

21 August v India B

23 August v India A

25 August v South Africa A

27 August v India B

29 August - Quad-Series Final

Australia A four-day squad: Mitchell Marsh (c), Alex Carey (vc), Ashton Agar, Brendan Doggett, Peter Handscomb, Travis Head, Jon Holland, Usman Khawaja, Michael Neser, Joel Paris, Kurtis Patterson, Matthew Renshaw, Mitch Swepson, Chris Tremain

Four-day fixtures in Vizag

2-5 September v India A

8-11 September v India A