David Warner and Usman Khawaja will both miss next week’s Chappell-Hadlee Series in New Zealand
Brydon Coverdale22-Jan-2017David Warner will be rested for the Chappell-Hadlee Series in New Zealand, while Usman Khawaja will also not be part of the squad as he heads to Dubai early for a training camp ahead of the Test tour of India. Aaron Finch and Shaun Marsh have both been called in to a 14-man squad for the the three games in New Zealand, and are likely to form the opening combination.’Got my mental approach wrong’ – Finch
Following his recall to the ODI side, Australia opener Aaron Finch – who had been dropped for the Pakistan series – had said he has worked on getting his mental approach to batting right.
“I’ve had my most success in the shortest two formats of the game,” Finch said. “I was coming off playing in England where I was ultra-aggressive and tried to dominate the game. I took that too far into the last couple of series internationally.
“When you’re batting with Warner at one end, and Steven Smith at No. 3, it puts pressure on you mentally. You think you have to keep up with these guys, and instead of giving yourself 10-20 balls to take your first risk, I was doing it after four-five balls. I got my mental approach slightly wrong. It’s a roller-coaster to get dropped, you see your career going down the drain. You think your career is over. But you can’t kick cans over it.”
They are the only changes from the current squad taking on Pakistan in an ODI series that concludes at Adelaide Oval on January 26. Allrounder Marcus Stoinis, who was brought into the squad to replace the injured Mitchell Marsh but has not yet played a game against Pakistan, has been retained, along with the young fast bowler Billy Stanlake.Warner has not missed a match for Australia in any format since the second half of the one-day tri-series in the West Indies in June, when he flew home with a fractured finger. From the start of the Test tour of Sri Lanka in July until now, Warner has played all 29 matches that Australia have played across all formats, and is the only man to have done so during that period.”David has had a very big summer and will benefit from a break in cricket, both mentally and physically,” the interim chairman of selectors, Trevor Hohns, said. “He will travel to Dubai in the second group of departures to coincide with those players arriving from the one-day series in New Zealand.”This gives Aaron an opportunity to return to the side. His form in the Big Bash League has been very good and he has earnt his recall. With Usman heading to Dubai in the first group of players this provides Shaun with a chance to get back into international cricket following his injury earlier in the summer.”Khawaja’s early departure for the training camp in Dubai comes as Australia seek a way to turn around his form in Asia: in four Tests in Asia (all in Sri Lanka) he has 115 runs at 19.16, while across all nine first-class games he has played in Asia he has 389 runs at 32.41. Matt Renshaw, Nathan Lyon, Steve O’Keefe, Ashton Agar, Mitchell Swepson and Jackson Bird will join Khawaja in the early departure.That group will depart for Dubai on January 30, with the remainder of the Test squad to leave on February 5, after the conclusion of the Chappell-Hadlee Series. The first ODI in Auckland takes place on Monday next week – four days after the last ODI against Pakistan in Adelaide – and the series then moves on to Napier and Hamilton.Squad: Steven Smith (capt), Aaron Finch, Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb, Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade (wk), James Faulkner, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood, Billy Stanlake
In: Aaron Finch, Shaun Marsh
Out: David Warner, Usman Khawaja