Big names included for Aus A series against Kiwis

A stacked Australia A one-day squad headed by Marnus Labuschagne will vie for back-up spots for this year's ODI World Cup with three 50-over matches against New Zealand A next month.

Labuschagne was on Monday omitted from Australia's preliminary 18-player ODI World Cup squad and will be joined in the Australia A team by other fringe white-ball stars such as Ben McDermott, Josh Philippe and Ashton Turner.

The squad – which includes six players with ODI experience – also features Matt Short, the reigning KFC BBL player of the tournament who is in line for a T20 international debut on the tour of South Africa that begins later this month.

Test off-spinner Todd Murphy gets a nod in the white-ball squad, alongside Victoria allrounder Will Sutherland and rising NSW talent Ollie Davies. That trio were singled out by national selector George Bailey as players "who have impressed us in limited-overs cricket for their states" as selectors put one eye on the next ODI World Cup cycle for the 2027 tournament in southern Africa.

Australia A four-day squad: Wes Agar, Cameron Bancroft, Jordan Buckingham, Ben Dwarshuis, Caleb Jewell, Campbell Kellaway, Matthew Kelly, Matthew Kuhnemann, Nathan McAndrew, Nathan McSweeney, Joel Paris, Jimmy Peirson, Mitch Perry, Josh Philippe, Mark Steketee, Mitchell Swepson, Tim Ward

 

Australia A one-day squad: Wes Agar, Ollie Davies, Ben Dwarshuis, Liam Hatcher, Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Ben McDermott, Todd Murphy, Josh Philippe, Matthew Renshaw, Gurinder Sandhu, Matt Short, Mark Steketee, Will Sutherland, Ashton Turner

The Australia A series, with matches split between Brisbane and Mackay, also features two four-day first-class games against New Zealand A, with Cameron Bancroft named in the squad offering the former Test opener first crack at making a claim to be David Warner's long-term replacement.

Warner has flagged he will retire after this summer's SCG Test against Pakistan, with his runs at The Oval in the final Ashes Test helping his case to hold his spot for a final summer.

Matthew Renshaw, another opening candidate and one endorsed by Warner himself, will miss the first-class matches but has been named in the one-day squad.

Renshaw hit back-to-back centuries against New Zealand A in an April series across the Tasman that was played with the Dukes ball as pre-Ashes preparation.

Bancroft could expect to open alongside rising Tasmania opener Tim Ward, another batter who dominated across the Tasman earlier this year with scores of 63, 75 and 67no.

The 25-year-old is currently in Chennai getting a taste of cricket in India as part of a select group that will train and play at the MRF Academy over the next fortnight.

Ward is part of nine players that also featured in the A series across the Tasman in April, a group that also includes Wes Agar, Jordan Buckingham, Caleb Jewell, Campbell Kellaway Nathan McSweeney, Mitch Perry and Queensland's veteran wicketkeeper Jimmy Peirson.

Leg-spinner Mitchell Swepson is also included in the A squad again, alongside fellow Queensland tweaker Matthew Kuhnemann, and it's understood each will make one appearance in the first-class fixtures.

New faces in the four-day squad include Western Australia keeper-batter Philippe, South Australia allrounder Nathan McAndrew, WA's Matthew Kelly and fast bowling pair Mark Steketee and Ben Dwarshuis.

Players who were part of Australia's tour of the UK or who have had a "significant" amount of cricket over the winter were not considered for selection, explaining the absence of Marcus Harris, an unused squad player from the Ashes tour who is another contender to replace Warner as Test opener.

"The squad contains some players who have put up some excellent state cricket performances, along with several emerging players we believe have exciting future in international cricket," Bailey said in a statement.

"With seven Tests this summer (including two in New Zealand in February and March 2024), this is an important time to continue to build depth through our red ball squads.

"It is equally exciting to expose some of our best developing talent to international opposition in one-day cricket as we enter a new World Cup cycle."

As previously revealed, WA's Adam Voges will head coach the Australia A squads, with former captain Tim Paine assisting for the first four-day game in his first official foray into coaching since retiring from playing.

Bailey added Cricket Australia was "committed to expanding the Australia A program", noting that seven players have gone on to graduate from the A squad to representing Australia in the past two years.

"As the series is played early in the summer before the Australian domestic season starts, we expect to rotate through both the four-day and one-day squads to ensure they are best prepared for the season ahead."

Australia A v New Zealand A series

First four-day match: August 28-31, Allan Border Field

Second four-day match: September 4-7, Great Barrier Reef Arena (D/N)

Australia A four-day squad: Wes Agar, Cameron Bancroft, Jordan Buckingham, Ben Dwarshuis, Caleb Jewell, Campbell Kellaway, Matthew Kelly, Matthew Kuhnemann, Nathan McAndrew, Nathan McSweeney, Joel Paris, Jimmy Peirson, Mitch Perry, Josh Philippe, Mark Steketee, Mitchell Swepson, Tim Ward

First one-dayer: September 10, Great Barrier Reef Arena

Second one-dayer: September 13, Allan Border Field (D/N)

Third one-dayer: September 15, Allan Border Field

Australia A one-day squad: Wes Agar, Ollie Davies, Ben Dwarshuis, Liam Hatcher, Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Ben McDermott, Todd Murphy, Josh Philippe, Matthew Renshaw, Gurinder Sandhu, Matt Short, Mark Steketee, Will Sutherland, Ashton Turner