Australia's 16-man Test squad for the upcoming two-Test series against Pakistan series, beginning October 7, in the UAE came as a shocker on Tuesday. Even when they will be without the experience of their key players like Steve Smith and Davis Warner, who are still serving their ban for ball tampering, they have taken a bold move of picking a highly inexperienced squad.
Apart from the former captain and his deputy, Australia will also be without the services of their senior pacers Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins.
One of the players, whose absence in the squad was shocking, was batting all-rounder Glenn Maxwell. The development came as a surprise as the right-hand batsman had scored with an impressive average of more than 50 in the last domestic season.
The other batsman who was unlucky to miss Australia's Test squad was the opener, Joe Burns. He was once a permanent member of Australia's Test squad until he was dropped for the third Test in Sri Lanka in 2016. Although Burns played the infamous fourth Test at Wanderers and the fifth match during Australia's tour of South Africa earlier this year, he has only played two T20 games for English county side Glamorgan since.
Burns wasn't selected for Australia AQ's squad for India tour, which was perhaps an indication the right-hander wasn't in the frame for the Pakistan series. Burns, so far has played 14 Tests and scored three hundreds as well. However, his final four scores of 3, 29, 0 and 2 led to his axing three years back.
Peter Handscomb's Test batting average of 43.63 and his fighting knocks against India and Bangladesh on foreign soils were clearly not enough to get him a place in the squad for the UAE tour. He has been struggling with the bat since the last few months and that has cost him his place.
Looking at Handscomb's last nine innings, which goes back to Australia's tour of South Africa A in Benoni, he has scored a poor 49 runs at an atrocious average of 5.44 with three ducks. More than half of those innings were on Australia A's tour of India, which is currently underway. He scored two in each of the one-day matches and zero, eight and eight in the four-day fixtures with one innings currently underway.
In the last three seasons of JLT Sheffield Shield, no other bowlers have taken more wickets than Victoria's Chris Tremain. He is also a part of Australia A's squad for India tour, where he played the one-dayer and t6he two four-day games. In both first-class matches against India A, he took a combined 4-106 from 40 overs.
Meanwhile, despite being a regular member of Australia's limited-overs squad in the last few months, Jhye Richardson was expected to finally get his maiden Test cap. He was a surprise pick during Australia's tour of South Africa earlier this year, but unfortunately, he did not get a match in the whites. Following that, he went on to play in the limited-overs series in England and Zimbabwe.
With the combination of his pace and rising exposure to international cricket, one had expected Richardson to be included, especially when Australia will be without their experienced but injured pacers like Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins.
Reflecting on the selections, Australian selector Trevor Hohns said that the name of Maxwell was discussed during the meeting, but the decision to omit his name, along with other players, was taken after keeping in mind the playing conditions of United Arab Emirates.
"Joe, Peter, and Glenn were players we discussed when selecting the batting group, but we had to take into account the conditions and competition we are set to face in the upcoming series," cricket.com.au quoted Trevor Hohns, as saying.
"All three remain on our radar for Test cricket, but we want them to perform for their states and continue to push their case ahead of what is going to be a big Australian summer," he added.
While Australian veterans Aaron Finch and Siddle made their way into the Test squad, some first timers including batsman Marnus Labuschagne and fast bowlers Michael Neser and Brendan Doggett were also given the chance.
Speaking on Finch's selection, Hohns stated that he is in a sensational form at the moment and brings along the required experience into the team.
"Aaron is in sensational form, and this is the right time to give him a chance to play Test cricket. He has performed well in the Sheffield Shield in recent seasons, and brings added experience and leadership to this group," Hohns said.
Australia are slated to play their first Test from July 7 in Dubai followed by the second match at Abu Dhabi from October 16.
Australia's Test squad: Tim Paine (c & wk), Ashton Agar, Brendan Doggett, Aaron Finch, Travis Head, Jon Holland, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Michael Neser, Matthew Renshaw, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc.
