Matthew Short and Aaron Hardie have earned their maiden International Cricket Council (ICC) tournament call-ups as Australia have announced their provisional squad for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. (More Cricket News)
The two-time Champions Trophy winners have picked both Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood in the squad with both pacers not travelling to Sri Lanka.
Cummins, currently on paternity leave is expected to undergo scans to assess the ankle issue he carried through the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, while Hazlewood is yet to completely recover from the calf injury that ended his India Test series participation prematurely.
"This is a balanced and experienced squad with the core having been involved in the previous one-day World Cup, the West Indies series, last year's successful tour of the UK and the more recent Pakistan home series," Chief Selector George Bailey was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au
Matthew Short and Jake Fraser-McGurk, who were both travelling reserves during the 2024 T20 World Cup have been waiting for a spot to open up, but the 22-year-old has been left out due to a lean patch this summer.
Australia will play a one-off ODI against Sri Lanka, after the two-match Test series, before flying to Pakistan.
The Pat Cummins-led side are placed in Group B alongside England (February 22), South Africa (February 25) and Afghanistan (February 28).
Australia Squad: Pat Cummins (C), Alex Carey, Nathan Ellis, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Short, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa
