After being dropped from the central contract list, destructive batsman Jake Fraser-McGurk is now aiming to secure his place in Australia’s limited-overs squad.
About a week before the T20 series against the West Indies, Australia made two changes to their squad. They called up powerful batsman Fraser-McGurk and pacer Xavier Bartlett, replacing fast bowlers Spencer Johnson and Josh Hazlewood.
Cricket Australia confirmed these two changes on Saturday.
Following the ongoing Test series in the Caribbean, Australia will play a five-match T20 series. Cricket Australia had announced a 16-member squad last month, and this update marks the first change to that lineup.
Fraser-McGurk had been left out earlier due to poor form and also dropped from the central contract list. Now, his goal is to cement his place again in the limited-overs setup.
Meanwhile, Hazlewood will return home to prepare for next month’s series against South Africa, while Johnson is still recovering from a back injury.
Australia has been in excellent form in the 20-over format, winning 12 of their last 14 matches. Maintaining this momentum ahead of next year’s T20 World Cup is their primary focus.
Having already sealed the Test series by winning the first two matches against West Indies, Australia will play the third and final Test in Kingston starting Saturday at midnight Bangladesh time.
The T20 series will begin on July 20 in Kingston, Jamaica, with the first two matches there, followed by the remaining three games in St Kitts.
Australia’s T20 squad
Mitchell Marsh (captain), Sean Abbott, Cooper Connolly, Tim David, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Xavier Bartlett, Josh Inglis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Matthew Kuhnemann, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Waugh, Matthew Short, Adam Zampa.
