Australia vs Sri Lanka: Australia’s 16-man squad for the Test series against Sri Lanka has been announced. Steve Smith has been appointed interim captain for the two Test matches against Sri Lanka starting on January 29. Smith will lead the team in the absence of Pat Cummins who is on paternity leave and suffering from a minor ankle problem.
Australia has included former Under-19 Cricket World Cup captain Cooper Connolly in the Test team for the first time. Young Nathan McSweeney has recently been recalled to the team despite missing the Melbourne and Sydney Tests in the Border-Gavaskar series.
Spinners Matt Kuhnman and Todd Murphy have also returned to the team. However, the team will miss Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Marsh due to leg injuries. Both Josh and Marsh have their eyes on the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy. Which is going to happen in Pakistan and Dubai. Players such as Glenn Maxwell, Adam Zampa and Peter Handscomb were floated as potential travelers for the tour, but were not selected. Both matches against Sri Lanka are part of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-2025 cycle but the final venue where Australia and South Africa will meet has already been decided.
Australia team: Steve Smith (captain), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Travis Head (vice-captain), Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Matt Kuhnman, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Nathan McSweeney. Todd Murphy, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster.
Sri Lanka vs Australia Test Series 29 January to 2 February – Target 6 February to 10 February – Target
