WA youngster Connolly bolts into Test squad for Sri Lanka tour

Australia's selectors have loaded-up on spin for this month's two-Test tour to Sri Lanka, with uncapped 21-year-old Cooper Connolly among the seven full or part-time slow bowling options in the 16-man squad.

Connolly, an allrounder who bowls left-arm orthodox, has represented Australia in limited-overs cricket and has been called up for his maiden Test campaign along with Test-capped specialist spinners Todd Murphy and Matthew Kuhnemann.

Uncapped duo Sean Abbott and Josh Inglis – who were members of Australia's squad throughout the recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against India – have also been named along with recalled batter Nathan McSweeney who lost his place during the home summer.

Australia squad for Sri Lanka Tests: Steve Smith (c), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Travis Head (vc), Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Matt Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Nathan McSweeney, Todd Murphy, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster

But selectors have overlooked veteran allrounders Mitchell Marsh (omitted for the final Test against India at Sydney) and Glenn Maxwell who had retained hope of a return despite not playing a first-class game since 2023 and with his most recent Test appearance in Bangladesh more than seven years ago.

Fast bowler Josh Hazlewood is also not among the touring party, having been sidelined with a side strain and then a calf injury which forced him to sit out three of the five Tests against India including the final two at Melbourne and Sydney.

Hazlewood and Marsh will focus their preparation on the ICC Champions Trophy ODI tournament in Pakistan and the UAE which immediately follows the Sri Lanka Tests.

That ensures the pace-bowling duties will be shared by Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland, with allrounder Beau Webster to provide crucial seam-bowling back-up and Abbott as the auxiliary quick.

Abbott, 32, has played almost 50 ODI and T20I matches for Australia and could also provide depth to Australia's lower-order batting in the absence of Pat Cummins given he boasts a first-class average of 25 with a top score of 102no.

Steve Smith will lead Australia on the Qantas Tour to Sri Lanka where both Tests will be played at Galle (from Jan 29 and Feb 6), with regular skipper Cummins to remain in Australia where his wife Becky is due to give birth to the couple's second child.

He is also managing an ankle problem he played with throughout the Australia summer.

Inglis will again fill the role of back-up 'keeper behind incumbent gloveman Alex Carey.

Webster's performance in his debut Test against India at the SCG last week – where he scored 57 and 39no, along with a wicket and two catches – provides selectors with invaluable flexibility in subcontinent conditions.

"Sri Lanka is a challenging and exciting place to tour given the different conditions players may be presented with," national selection panel chair George Bailey said today. "This squad provides several ways to structure the XI depending on what type of wickets we may encounter in each match."

With fellow allrounder Cameron Green on the comeback trail after back surgery and eyeing a return to the Australia outfit later this year, the Test future appears uncertain for 33-year-old Marsh who is the reigning Allan Border Medallist.

He scored 73 runs at 10.42 in his seven innings against India and returned three wickets at 46.33 from his 33 overs with the ball.

Connolly's elevation after just four first-class matches – in which the left-hander has scored 309 runs at 61.8 – in addition to his white-ball selection indicates he may be earmarked for the spin-bowling allrounder role filled by Maxwell and Ashton Agar on recent subcontinent tours.

The inclusion of Connolly, currently leading runs scorer in the BBL with 272 from seven matches with Perth Scorchers, means Australia is flush for spin-bowling options on pitches that are certain to favour that craft.

On Australia's previous visit to the island in 2022, when both Tests were also played at Galle, their spinners claimed 23 of the 30 Sri Lanka wickets to fall.

In addition to first-choice spinner Nathan Lyon and other specialists Murphy and Kuhnemann, Webster can also bowl off-spin while McSweeney and Travis Head have proved themselves to be more-than-handy part-timers.

Marnus Labuschagne has also been known to provide a few overs of leg spin but has been used as a part-time seamer more recently.

Head, who has been named vice-captain having previously shared that role with Smith, recorded his Test best bowling figures at Galle during Australia's previous Sri Lanka tour in 2022 with 4-10.

He was also deployed as an opener for the final two Test of Australia's most recent Test campaign in Asia (against India in early 2023) alongside Usman Khawaja, with a view that his aggressive stroke play is most effective in the early overs when the ball is hard in spin-friendly conditions.

Should selectors revert to that plan in Sri Lanka, Konstas might make way at the top of the order given he plays in a similarly breezy manner with McSweeney a possibility to return to a middle-order role where he has played most of his red-ball cricket.

The South Australia skipper, who lost his place after the third Test against India and was replaced by Konstas, is regarded as among the best players of spin in the Sheffield Shield competition.

In opting for McSweeney ahead of veteran Victorian batter Peter Handscomb who became part of the Australia squad in Sydney for the final Test against India, the selectors have shown a willingness to reward emerging talent.

Having fielded teams in the opening Tests against India with McSweeney as the only player aged below 30, Australia now has Konstas (19), Connolly (21), Murphy (24), McSweeney (25), Kuhnemann (28) and Inglis (29) in their touring party.

"We are excited about the opportunity ahead for the squad members who are at the start of their Test careers to continue to grow their games in subcontinent conditions where we have a number of important tours in coming years," Bailey said.

Murphy played the most recent of his six Tests to date in the final match of the 2023 Ashes campaign in the UK, while Kuhnemann's three appearances in a Baggy Green Cap all came during the preceding tour of India.

The teams will be competing for the Warne-Muralidaran Trophy which Australia currently holds, having regained it on home soil in 2019 before the most recent series in Sri Lanka was drawn 1-1.

A majority of the squad will spend almost a week at training facilities in Dubai to prepare for the expected conditions before arriving in Sri Lanka where the Tests will start on January 29 and February 6.