Sam Konstas’s whirlwind summer could include a maiden Australian cap after the teenage batting prodigy was named in the Australia A squad to face India A.
The 19-year-old NSW opener announced himself as a star of the future against South Australia last week, becoming the youngest man since Ricky Ponting in 1992 to record two centuries in a Sheffield Shield game.
On Monday, Konstas was included in a 17-player squad that will host matches against an Indian XI in Mackay and Melbourne in the background of this summer’s five-Test series.
“We are really excited by this squad, particularly after some of the tremendous performances to start the Sheffield Shield season,” said Cricket Australia chief selector George Bailey.
Marcus Harris, Cameron Bancroft and Beau Webster will all have the chance to push their cases to replace the injured Cameron Green, who will undergo back surgery and miss the Test summer.
Aaron Hardie, another option to come in for Green, has instead been named in the ODI squad for next month’s three-match home series against Pakistan.
But 14-time Test player Matthew Renshaw was left out of both squads despite shaping as a candidate to open the batting if Australia opted to push Steve Smith down the order to No.4
Pat Cummins assumes the ODI captaincy from Mitch Marsh for the Pakistan series, which both the burly allrounder and Travis Head will miss through paternity leave.
Allrounder Marcus Stoinis returns to the ODI squad after being left out of the recent UK tour, while explosive batter Jake Fraser-McGurk earns selection despite being overlooked for game time in that five-match series.
“This is our last ODI series before the Champions Trophy (in February) and the balance of the squad was focused on that as well as continuing to focus on preparation of individuals for the upcoming Test Summer,” Bailey said.
AUSTRALIA A SQUAD: Nathan McSweeney (c), Cameron Bancroft, Scott Boland, Jordan Buckingham, Cooper Connolly, Ollie Davies, Marcus Harris, Sam Konstas, Nathan McAndrew, Michael Neser, Todd Murphy, Fergus O’Neill, Jimmy Peirson, Josh Philippe, Corey Rocchiccioli, Mark Steketee, Beau Webster
ODI SQUAD: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Cooper Connolly, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Short, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa
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