Perth Scorchers captain Michael Klinger headlines four uncapped players in Australia’s 13-man squad for their three-match Twenty20 International series against Sri Lanka starting on February 17.
Fresh from his heroics in the Big Bash League (BBL) final on Saturday (January 28), the 36-year-old was named in the squad along with fellow newcomers Jhye Richardson, Billy Stanlanke and Ashton Turner.
Melbourne Renegades captain Aaron Finch will lead the team, which also includes dynamic Brisbane Heat batsman Chris Lynn and Australian One-Day International paceman Pat Cummins. It is a second-string Australian team with the core group of players – including leaders Steve Smith and David Warner – to be in India preparing for the four-Test series.
Trevor Hohns, interim national chief selector, said the squad was a mixture of youth and experience. “With Australia currently ranked number six in this format and with a number of our frontline players preparing for the India Test series, we have chosen a squad with a good blend of experience combined with several younger players in an effort to improve our performance and therefore our ICC T20 ranking,” he said on Wednesday (February 1). “The influence of younger players in this squad also gives us the opportunity to look forward to the ICC World T20, which is being hosted here in Australia in 2020.
“On Michael Klinger’s selection, he has been a very good player in this form of the game for some time now,” he added. “He has a history of strong performances in T20 competitions in the UK and in the BBL, including the match-winning innings for the Perth Scorchers to secure this year’s BBL title.”
Squad: Aaron Finch (c), Pat Cummins, James Faulkner, Travis Head, Moises Henriques, Michael Klinger, Chris Lynn, Tim Paine (wk), Jhye Richardson, Billy Stanlake, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa.
