Australia keep faith with World Cup winners
Lee returns to the fold after an ankle injury
Also In The News
|
A selection of the top news stories making the headlines in Europe in the last two months. |  |
Friday, 20, Jul 2007 02:25
The Australian selectors have kept faith with the 15-man squad that won their third World Cup trophy in a row for this September's Twenty20 World Championships.
Fast bowler Brett Lee, who missed that tournament because of injury, is the only change as he replaces retired seamer Glenn McGrath.
The rest of the squad is identical to the group that travelled to the Caribbean earlier this year and selection chairman Andrew Hilditch said he has every faith in the one-day players to adjust to the specific demands of Twenty20 cricket.
"We looked at the performances of some of the top domestic Twenty20 players, but ultimately we felt that the World Cup-winning side would adapt well and deserved the opportunity to prove that they can perform to the highest standards in both shorter forms of the game," he said.
"The reality is that Australia has not played a lot of international Twenty20 cricket, but we see no reason to doubt that, being an Australian side, they will be able to adapt quickly.
"In recent times when Australia has played international Twenty20 cricket the team has performed very well."
Hilditch also said it is "fantastic" to see the return of Lee, who is "back in training and raring to go".
The Twenty20 World Championship tournament begins on September 11th, with Australia in the same three-team group as England. Zimbabwe will be the third side vying for one of the top two spots who qualify for the next stage.
Full 15-man Australia squad:
Ricky Ponting (captain), Adam Gilchrist (vice-captain), Nathan Bracken, Stuart Clark, Michael Clarke, Brad Haddin, Matthew Hayden, Brad Hodge, Brad Hogg, Michael Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Andrew Symonds, Shaun Tait, Shane Watson.