Sri Lanka vs Australia 2024: Pat Cummins to miss Australia’s Sri Lanka tour after Cricket Australia confirms 23-year-old ankle injury ‘managed throughout the summer’ while he and wife parter Brooke D’Ath are awaiting their first child. Without Cummins, in the side, there is a gap in leadership left behind, but Smith – a former captain with a wealth of experience – is called upon to fill in the leadership gap. Australia also does not have Josh Hazlewood, who has been playing only sporadically because of an injury that kept him out of the tail end of the series against India. Mitchell Marsh meanwhile has been axed from squad.
The squad comprises a mix of experienced players and rising names for the two Test series in Galle, Sri Lanka. The 16-man squad consists of: Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith, Sam Konstas, Marnus Labuschagne, Travis Head, Alex Carey, Josh Inglis, Nathan McSweeney, Beau Webster, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Starc, Cooper Connolly, Todd Murphy, Matt Kuhneman, Scott Boland, Sean Abbott.
Notably, the squad has just three frontline pacers: Mitchell Starc, Scott Boland and Sean Abbott and the responsibility for key wickets will be on their shoulders. But the spin department has been strengthened by the addition of Todd Murphy and Matt Kuhnemann, both of whom will support Nathan Lyon, Australia’s premier spin bowler. Lyon’s experience on subcontinental conditions will be invaluable in Sri Lanka – a place where the pitches are thought to assist spinners.
Nathan McSweeney, who was considerably out of favor by the end of India series, has made a comeback. This is a fresh chance for him to prove himself at international level. Also selected for the Test squad is left-handed batter Cooper Connolly, who has earned a maiden call up having bowled orthodox spin.
‘There’s an exciting challenge of going there and the conditions are obviously so different than what we are used to playing in,’ said George Bailey, Australia’s chief selector. The conditions players would face in Sri Lanka change from one match to the other, it is a challenging and exciting place to tour,” Sanga added. We’ve got flex in how we put out XI across the conditions we’ll face, said Bailey.
This Sri Lanka tour, to be followed by Australia’s final Test assignment before the World Test Championship final in June, is their last clump of Tests before the big show. Squad will be strong as each year, it is directed by Smith, Lyon, anad Starc, the idea of such team is to get strong against Sri Lanka and to do better on international cricket.
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