The Cricket Australia (CA) National Selection Panel (NSP) has today announced a 13-player squad for the first two Commonwealth Bank Series matches against Sri Lanka on 11 January at the MCG and 13 January at the Adelaide Oval.
Hurricanes duo George Bailey and Xavier Doherty have been included in the squad with Bailey named Captain in Michael Clarke's absence.
Their selection will mean the pair will miss the Hurricanes crucial must-win match on Saturday night against the Brisbane Heat at Blundstone Arena but Bailey believes they the Hurricanes have some great replacements in the squad to cover his and Doherty’s absence due to their ODI call ups:
“We have Jon Wells who has been on the fringes the whole tournament so I think he is a ready-made replacement and it has been really hard leaving Jason Krejza out of the team too so I think he will slot in and become a real wicket-taking option aswell," Bailey said.
The Australian squad for the first two matches is:
George Bailey (captain)
Ben Cutting
Xavier Doherty
Aaron Finch
Brad Haddin
Phillip Hughes
David Hussey
Mitchell Johnson
Usman Khawaja
Glenn Maxwell
Clint McKay
Steve Smith
Mitchell Starc