After making waves in the Big Bash League with two explosive centuries, Mitchell Owen has earned his maiden national team call-up. The hard-hitting 23-year-old batter has been included in Australia’s squad for the upcoming T20I series against the West Indies.
Australia announced a 16-member squad on Wednesday for the five-match T20 series. Alongside Owen, left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann has also been selected and is in line for his T20I debut.
Mitchell Marsh returns to lead the T20 side during the Caribbean tour. He had missed the recent series against Pakistan due to paternity leave. Meanwhile, Cameron Green and Cooper Connolly are back after recovering from injuries.
“Cameron Green will only play as a batter,” as the 26-year-old all-rounder is expected to resume bowling later this year.
Notably, explosive batter Jake Fraser-McGurk, Marcus Stoinis, and Xavier Bartlett have been left out of the squad. Pat Cummins, Travis Head, and Mitchell Starc have been rested due to workload management.
Fraser-McGurk featured in 7 of Australia’s last 8 T20Is but managed to score more than 20 just once. That was a 31-ball 50 against England last September. Since then, across the Pakistan series, BBL, and IPL, the 23-year-old has scored only 290 runs in 19 innings at an average of 15.26, passing 40 just once.
Owen, on the other hand, turned heads with his BBL performance—452 runs at a blistering strike rate of 203.60, including two centuries. Though he earned opportunities in the PSL and IPL, he couldn’t replicate that form.
Matthew Kuhnemann joins Adam Zampa as the squad’s specialist spinners. Kuhnemann could make his T20I debut in this series. All-rounders Glenn Maxwell and Cooper Connolly may also offer spin options if needed.
Among Australia’s multi-format pacers, only Josh Hazlewood will travel to the West Indies. After playing in the ICC World Test Championship final and the Test series against the Windies, he’ll stay on for the T20Is as well.
Australia will head to the West Indies in late June for three Tests followed by five T20Is. The T20 series begins on July 20, with the first two matches in Jamaica and the last three in St. Kitts.
Australia T20 squad
Mitchell Marsh (captain), Sean Abbott, Cooper Connolly, Tim David, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Matthew Kuhnemann, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Owen, Matthew Short, Adam Zampa.
