Cricket: Australia name three debutants for Twenty20 tour of New Zealand

  • 27/01/2021

Australia have named their squad to take on the Blackcaps in their upcoming Twenty20 series.

The trans-Tasman rivals square off in a five-match tour, starting at Christchurch's Hagley Oval on February 22.

The 18-man squad includes three uncapped players - teenage spin sensation Tanveer Sangha, wicketkeeper-batsman Josh Philippe and paceman Riley Meredith, as well as axed test batsman Matthew Wade.

The middle-order batsman has paid the price for his poor performances in the series against India, relegated from the test squad to travel to South Africa.

Just a year removed from a star hand at the U-19 World Cup, Sangha finished his season with the Shane Bond-coached Sydney Thunder as the competition's joint third leading wicket taker.

Sydney Sixers' Phillipe finished the BBL with an average of over 32 runs, his total of 454 good enough for second overall.

Paceman Meredith regularly clocked in at over 150km/h, finishing with 16 wickets at an average of 24.62.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Alex Carey has been included in the 19-man squad for the test tour, along with another uncapped player in Queensland paceman Mark Steketee.

Openers Will Pucovski and David Warner, and fast bowlers Mitchell Starc and James Pattinson have all been selected, despite suffering recent injuries.

The Australian and South African cricket boards are yet to sign off on dates for the three-test tour as authorities in South Africa battle to contain COVID-19 infections.

T20 squad: Aaron Finch (capt), Matthew Wade, Ashton Agar, Jason Behrendorff, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Josh Philippe, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Daniel Sams, Tanveer Sangha, D'Arcy Short, Marcus Stoinis, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa

Test squad: Tim Paine (capt), Pat Cummins, Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Moises Henriques, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Will Pucovski, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mark Steketee, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner.