White-ball cover called up as Aussie withdrawals loom

08 Jun 2021 Adam Burnett

Veteran Dan Christian and uncapped pacemen Nathan Ellis and Wes Agar among six players called up for the upcoming tours of the Caribbean and Bangladesh

Australia's national selection panel has added six players to its preliminary squad for the upcoming white-ball tour of the Caribbean and Bangladesh amid concerns that 'bubble fatigue' could lead to a raft of big names making themselves unavailable.

Ben McDermott, Dan Christian, Cameron Green, Ashton Turner, Wes Agar and Nathan Ellis have all been called up as potential tourists, taking the current group to a mammoth 29.

Australia squad: Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Wes Agar, Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey, Dan Christian, Pat Cummins, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Moises Henriques, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Josh Philippe, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Tanveer Sangha, D'Arcy Short, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa (squad to be trimmed before departure)

That figure was already set to be cut prior to the squad taking a chartered flight to the West Indies on June 28 and national selection chair Trevor Hohns indicated the likelihoods of withdrawals from a number of players.

The possible unavailability of Indian Premier League stars Pat Cummins and David Warner has previously been reported.

"The six additions to the Qantas Australian men's squad follow discussions with players selected in the initial preliminary list for the tours of the West Indies and Bangladesh," Hohns said.

"During the course of those discussions, it has become clear that recent experiences abroad, including but not limited to extended periods in bio-secure hubs and hard quarantine, have had an impact on the health and wellbeing of some players and their families.

"CA has maintained that the wellbeing of players, staff and officials is a top priority, and never more so than during the Covid-19 pandemic given the extraordinary challenges it has placed upon international athletes and sporting teams."

Sydney Thunder's fast-bowling allrounder Daniel Sams has already withdrawn from the squad on mental health grounds following the IPL, and others now look certain to follow.

The potential absence of a host of Australia's frontline players for the tour looms as a major blow in preparations for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup, set to be held in either India or the UAE in October-November.

A strong West Indies squad, and like-for-like conditions in Bangladesh were both viewed as high-quality lead-in options for the Australians, for which a T20 World Cup title remains notably elusive.

Big-hitting wicketkeeper-batsman McDermott and veteran allrounder Christian are currently in the UK with Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire respectively and will return to Australia this week to complete the mandatory two-week quarantine period before the final squad's scheduled departure for the Caribbean in late June.

However, Marnus Labuschagne was again overlooked after Cricket Australia had previously detailed the logistical complexities relating to travel and quarantine for the Test star, who is currently with Glamorgan in the UK.

"With Covid, the amount of quarantine that is needed for me to play in those games is almost 38 days," Labuschagne told The Times this week.

"Any time you can't go to play for Australia is a very disappointing time, but the silver lining is that I get to play most of the T20 comp here and almost double the amount of T20s I have played in my career. I've played 16 before and I will play 14 here.

"I would love to be playing in the World Cup in a few months. I don't know if it is a realistic goal from the selectors, but it is a realistic goal from my perspective."

Along with Christian and McDermott, Turner is the only other member of the sextet to have played T20I cricket, though Green earned his maiden Test and ODI caps during a breakout 2020-21 summer.

Quicks Agar (Adelaide Strikers) and Ellis (Hobart Hurricanes) could be in line for their first international appearances, with the former joining his brother Ashton in a national squad.

"Ben is a proven match-winner and powerful striker of the ball, particularly in the T20 format, and we believe that, at 26, his best cricket is still ahead of him," Hohns said.

"Dan is in arguably career-best form and was a crucial member of the Sydney Sixers' BBL-winning squad this summer. His selection is testament to the hard work he has put in over many years.

"Cameron made his ODI debut last summer against India and the NSP believes he has tremendous potential in the white- and red-ball formats, while Ashton has performed well across his 17 ODI and T20I matches for Australia dating back to 2017.

"Wes and Nathan, meanwhile, were among the leading wicket-takers during the summer's BBL and are viewed by the NSP as players who could make a genuine impact at international level."

Qantas Tour of the West Indies 2021

West Indies T20 squad: Kieron Pollard (c), Nicholas Pooran (vc), Fabian Allen, Dwayne Bravo, Sheldon Cottrell, Fidel Edwards, Andre Fletcher, Chris Gayle, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Evin Lewis, Obed McCoy, Andre Russell, Lendl Simmons, Kevin Sinclair, Oshane Thomas, Hayden Walsh Jr

First T20: July 9, Daren Sammy Stadium, St Lucia, 7.30pm (July 10, 9.30am AEST)

Second T20: July 10, Daren Sammy Stadium, St Lucia, 7.30pm (July 11 9.30am AEST)

Third T20: July 12, Daren Sammy Stadium, St Lucia, 7.30pm (July 13, 9.30am AEST)

Fourth T20: July 14, Daren Sammy Stadium, St Lucia, 7.30pm (July 15, 9.30am AEST)

Fifth T20: July 16, Daren Sammy Stadium, St Lucia, 7.30pm (July 17, 9.30am AEST)

First ODI: July 20, Kensington Oval, Barbados, 2.30pm D/N (July 21, 4.30am AEST)

Second ODI: July 22, Kensington Oval, Barbados, 2.30pm D/N (July 23, 4.30am AEST)

Third ODI: July 24, Kensington Oval, Barbados, 2.30pm D/N (July 25, 4.30am AEST)

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