Sam Konstas and Nathan McSweeney will get an opportunity to press their case for Ashes selection in next month’s Australia A tour of India.
On Thursday, Cricket Australia announced a 14-player squad for the two four-day matches against India A in Lucknow, which will be followed by three one-day game in Kanpur.
Konstas and McSweeney, who are both fighting for Test selection, headline the touring party alongside fellow Australian representatives Cooper Connolly, Josh Philippe, Xavier Bartlett, Aaron Hardie, Lance Morris and Todd Murphy.
Rising stars Fergus O’Neill, Campbell Kellaway and Corey Rocchiccioli have also earned a call-up, along with Victorian teenager Oliver Peake, New South Wales captain Jack Edwards and South Australian bowler Liam Scott.
Tasmanian opener Jake Weatherald, the leading run-scorer from last season’s Sheffield Shield, missed selection for the Australia A tour, along with West Australian bowler Jhye Richardson.
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“The sub-continent provides many unique challenges and the opportunity to utilise different skills with bat and ball,” chair of selectors George Bailey said in a statement.
“We hope repeated experiences in these conditions will assist players in developing an effective method and understanding of their game for future sub-continent tours.
“For many of these players we remain interested in the development of their short form cricket as well, but balancing out priorities meant we wanted them back and available for the start of the Sheffield Shield season.
“This provides opportunities for Harry Dixon, Sam Elliott, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Mackenzie Harvey, Tanveer Sangha, Lachie Shaw, Tom Straker, Will Sutherland and Callum Vidler who will play the one-day matches in Kanpur.”
Australia A four-day squad
Xavier Bartlett
Cooper Connolly
Jack Edwards
Aaron Hardie
Campbell Kellaway
Sam
Nathan McSweeney
Lance Morris
Todd Murphy
Fergus O’Neill
Oliver Peake
Josh Philippe
Corey roccaoli
Liam Scott
Australia A one-day squad
Cooper Connolly
Harry Dixon
Jack Edwards
Sam Elliott
Jake Fraser-McGurk
Aaron Hardie
Mackenzie Harvey
Todd Murphy
Tanveer sangha
Liam Scott
Lachie Shaw
Tom Straker
Will Sutherland
Callum Vidler
Australia A Tour Schedule
September 16-19 — First four-day match, Lucknow
September 23-26 — Second four-day match, Lucknow
September 30 — First one-day match, Kanpur
October 3 — Second one-day match, Kanpur
October 5 — Third one-day match, Kanpur