Australia have named all-rounder Mitchell Marsh as captain for their upcoming three-T20I series against New Zealand, starting on February 21 in Wellington.
The Aussies have picked a star-studded squad as Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Travis Head and Steve Smith return in the final T20I series before this year's T20 World Cup in the West Indies and USA. All of them have been rested for the home T20Is against West Indies that starts on February 9 in Hobart.
Australia have included Matthew Short in the 15-member squad despite a low-grade hamstring injury that ruled him out of the West Indies series. He is expected to be fit for the New Zealand tour.
Aaron Hardie will replace Short in the squad for the T20I series against the West Indies but the former doesn’t feature in the squad for New Zealand tour.
Pacer Nathan Ellis has also found a place in the squad although he is still recovering from a rib injury. Ellis has been preferred over Jason Behrendorff and Sean Abbott for the series as the latter were named standby players.
Spencer Johnson is on standby to replace Ellis in the squad for the West Indies series should he need more time to be ready for the trip to New Zealand, Cricket Australia said.
National Selection Panel chair George Bailey said: "Travis, Pat, Mitchell and Steve rejoin the squad following the series against the West Indies with Jason Behrendorff and Sean Abbott amongst the standby players from those playing the upcoming T20s."
"The next six games will provide us the opportunity to start shaping what we think our World Cup squad will look like and potential roles within that. We will also fully utilise the opportunity to monitor and watch the performances of the Australian players in the IPL immediately preceding the World Cup," Bailey added.
Australia T20I squad for New Zealand tour: Mitchell Marsh (captain), Pat Cummins, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Matt Short, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa.
