Australia have announced a preliminary 26-member squad for the possible upcoming tour of England amid the COVID-19 outbreak. The selectors have included the uncapped trio of Daniel Sams, Riley Meredith and Josh Philippe.

Meanwhile, Cricket Australia (CA) and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) are in discussions about a limited-overs series in the UK in September. Australia head coach Justi Langer recently said that Australia need to tour England to save world cricket amid COVID-19 distress.

Keeping in the upcoming tour into view, the selectors have picked a 26-member preliminary squad. The selectors have picked a large group that will help cover a range of contingencies. The organisers will host the event in a bio-secure environment which means there will be no replacements possible in the midway of the series.

Australia name squad for England tour

Apart from the three uncapped players, the selectors included Glenn Maxwell, who hasn’t represented Australia since October. They also added batsmen Travis Head and Usman Khawaja, who have recently been out of favour in white-ball cricket. Andrew Tye, who didn’t bag a contract from Western Australia also found a place in the squad.

CA’s Executive General Manager of National Teams, Ben Oliver said that they are still working on the logistics. He also added that picking the squad will give them the clarity to work with players in preparation of the tour.

“The ECB are a long-standing and valued international cricket partner and we are doing all we can to give the tour the best possible chance of taking place,” he said.

“We continue to work with the ECB and government agencies and a decision on the tour will be made in due course.

“In the meantime, the identification of a preliminary list will enable us to work with players and states more directly on the preparation for the tour in the hope it can proceed,” he added. 

Preliminary squad of Australia For England tour:

 Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Aaron Finch, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Michael Neser, Josh Philippe, Daniel Sams, D’Arcy Short, Kane Richardson, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa.