Maxwell, Khawaja return as Australia announce preliminary squad for England tour

Australia on Thursday announced a 26-strong preliminary squad for a yet-to-be-confirmed limited-overs tour of England, naming the likes of Glenn Maxwell and Usman Khawaja along with some uncapped players with an eye on the currently-uncertain T20 World Cup.

In a statement, CA said announcing the squad is "a positive step, albeit not a definitive one" as it works for a return to international cricket amid the COVID-19 pandemic. England have already hit the restart button with an ongoing Test series against the West Indies.

"A final decision on the tour has not been made and constructive discussions between Cricket Australia, the England and Wales Cricket Board and all relevant government agencies remain ongoing," the CA statement read.

Nonetheless, it has been reportedly said that the squad will only be finalised should the upcoming bilateral limited-overs series is scheduled to go ahead as planned in September. Maxwell and Khawaja's return should boost the Australian team's morale. The all-rounder has not played international cricket since October last year as he had taken an indefinite break from the game to deal with some mental health issues. Whereas, the southpaw on the other hand  had missed out on a (Cricket Australia) CA contract for the first time in five years. The opening batsman has not been a particular favourite in white-ball cricket for a while now. 
National Selector Trevor Hohns said the squad is not just for the England tour but has also been picked with an eye on the T20 World Cup, which is looks set to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"This preliminary list covers the contingencies of playing One-Day Internationals and T20 Internationals in bio-secure hubs with the likely prospect of not being able to bring in replacements should the tour proceed," he said. "The preliminary list also has a view towards the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup and in the longer term the 2023 ICC World Cup," he added.

The uncapped trio of Daniel Sams, Riley Meredith and Josh Philippe, all of whom have done well in the Big Bash League, were also named in the squad. 

"The preliminary list includes several exciting young players who have recently excelled at state level and in the BBL. These emerging players are those we would like to develop further as we believe they have a bright future in Australian cricket," Hohns said. 

Australia tour of England 2020

Australia were originally scheduled to visit England for a limited-overs series that included three One Day Internationals and three T20Is in July 2020. However, in May 2020, the bilateral limited-overs series were rescheduled to September due to the ongoing global pandemic. Meanwhile, the dates for the same have not yet been finalised.

The Squad:

Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Aaron Finch, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Michael Neser, Josh Philippe, Daniel Sams, D'Arcy Short, Kane Richardson, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa.

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(Image Courtesy: AP)