Australia players to undergo training in Sydney ahead of New Zealand series
Injured opener David Warner along with front-line pacemen Mitchell Johnson and Josh Hazlewood will join a 19-man Australia squad when it begins preparations for a three-Test home series against New Zealand in Sydney on Tuesday.
Cricket Australia said on Monday the squad will include the 15 players that were meant to travel to Bangladesh for an aborted two-Test series this month plus Warner, Hazlewood, Johnson and speedster Nathan Coulter-Nile.
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The tour of Bangladesh was called off over security concerns.
With the Test squad members now playing for their respective state teams in the domestic ODI cup in Sydney, the two-day camp will give the Test aspirants a hit-out with the red ball.
Warner has not played since breaking his left thumb during Australia’s ODI series in England early last month.
After losing Ashes campaign, fast bowlers Johnson and Hazlewood were rested from the Bangladesh tour and have not yet played in the interstate ODI cup.
The uncapped Coulter-Nile suffered a hamstring injury during the ODI series against England.
Selector Mark Waugh indicated last week that the anticipated returns of Warner, Johnson and Hazlewood for the New Zealand series would squeeze out some players selected for the Bangladesh tour.
“The squad from Bangladesh, it’s going to look different for New Zealand. There is no doubt about it,” Waugh said.
“Because you didn’t have Warner, Hazlewood and Johnson (in the Bangladesh squad), so there’s three players straight away you’d imagine would come back into the reckoning for the first Test.
“There’s going to be some guys picked for that tour who are probably going to get shuffled back down the order a little bit, but you can’t do anything about it.”
The camp will involve centre wicket and net practice across both days, Cricket Australia said.
The first Test against the Black Caps is at Brisbane’s Gabba from November 5.
Australia: Steve Smith, David Warner, Cameron Bancroft, Joe Burns, Nathan Coulter-Nile, James Faulkner, Andrew Fekete, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Johnson, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Peter Nevill, Steve O’Keefe, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc, Adam Voges.
