Australia announce squad for Champions Trophy


Trevor Hohns is enthused by the explosive fast bowling options available to Australia as the national selector talked up their Champions Trophy prospects.

Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and James Pattinson are rated among the quickest pacemen in the world while seamers Josh Hazlewood and John Hastings offer control to captain Steve Smith's 15-man squad.

Starc missed the final two Tests in India due to a stress fracture in his right foot, while batsman Chris Lynn is struggling with a shoulder problem but both are expected to be fit for the start of the tournament on June 1.

Pattinson, whose last one-day international appearance came in September 2015, and Hastings have made encouraging comebacks from injury in the Specsavers County Championship with Nottinghamshire and Worcestershire respectively.

Hohns said: "Both James and John have made very good returns from injury and are bowling well for their teams in the English county competition as well as both contributing well with the bat.

"When you also add Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins to the fast bowling artillery it becomes a very exciting proposition for Australian cricket.

"We have selected a very exciting well balanced squad that will give us plenty of options with both batting and bowling, depending on the conditions.

"We are in a very fortunate position at the moment with a large number of quality players available for selection, as such this was a very difficult team to choose and there have been some unlucky players on this occasion."

Just over two years on from a man-of-the-match performance in the World Cup final, James Faulkner is the shock absentee as Marcus Stoinis and part-time spinners Glenn Maxwell and Travis Head were named as the preferred all-rounders.

Hohns added: "James has been a consistent performer for the one-day squad for several years, however with players such as Pattinson, Cummins and Hastings coming back to full fitness and the emergence of Marcus Stoinis, James was squeezed out of the squad and an unlucky omission."

Batsmen Usman Khawaja and George Bailey have also been overlooked by the reigning 50-over world champions, while Shaun and Mitchell Marsh are sidelined by injury.

Australia, winners of the competition in 2006 and 2009, begin their campaign against New Zealand at Edgbaston on June 2 and also tackle Bangladesh and hosts England in Group A.

Australia squad for Champions Trophy: S Smith (captain), D Warner (vice-captain), P Cummins, A Finch, J Hastings, J Hazlewood, T Head, M Henriques, C Lynn, G Maxwell, J Pattinson, M Starc, M Stoinis, M Wade (wicketkeeper), A Zampa

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