Tim Paine, Aaron Finch named Australia limited-overs captains

Wednesday, 9 May 2018 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Melbourne (Reuters): Cricket Australia said on Tuesday that test skipper Tim Paine will also captain the one-day international team during next month’s tour of England, but selectors are yet to decide who will lead the side’s title defence at the 2019 World Cup.

Paine was named skipper of a 15-man squad for the five-match series, Australia’s first since the ball-tampering scandal which led to lengthy bans for former test and ODI captain Steve Smith, his deputy David Warner and batsman Cameron Bancroft.

Selectors have installed Aaron Finch as the ODI team’s vice-captain in place of the disgraced Warner and named the Victorian as captain of the Twenty20 side also released on Tuesday.

Australia will play five one-dayers and a T20 match against England from June 13-27, a warmup for the global tournament in the same country next year, before heading to Zimbabwe for a T20 tri-series against the host nation and Pakistan starting on July 1.

“Tim is a strong leader and will captain the side for this series, supported by Aaron,” selector Trevor Hohns said in a media release. “A decision on a permanent one-day captain will be made in due course.”

Smith led Australia across all three formats but there are concerns that such a burden could be too heavy for wicketkeeper Paine, who was hurried in as a replacement for Smith as test captain after the tampering scandal broke during the third test of the South Africa tour.

South Australia’s Alex Carey, a wicketkeeper batsman, has been included in the ODI squad but Paine will retain the gloves in England.

The squad features an uncapped player in D’Arcy Short, a left-handed opener who impressed in his debut T20I series against New Zealand in February, while test spinner Nathan Lyon has been recalled for the first time since 2016.

“England potentially have a number of left-handers in their side and we look forward to seeing what (Lyon) can produce with the white-ball in English conditions,” said Hohns.

Australia will be without leading pacemen Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins, who were injured during the calamitous series in South Africa and are not expected back until the test tour against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates.

Josh Hazlewood will instead lead a rookie pace battery which includes Kane Richardson, Jhye Richardson, Andrew Tye and Billy Stanlake.

The Twenty20 squad also features a pair of uncapped players, with Queensland all-rounder Jack Wildermuth and his spin bowling team mate Mitchell Swepson.

Swepson, who was a surprise inclusion in Australia’s test squad for the tour of India last year but never played, replaces fellow legspinner Adam Zampa.

Hard-hitting batsman Nic Maddinson returns to the T20I frame for the first time in four years, with Carey appointed the squad’s vice-captain.

ODI squad: Tim Paine (captain), Aaron Finch, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Shaun Marsh, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, D’Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye.

T20 squad: Aaron Finch (captain), Alex Carey, Ashton Agar, Travis Head, Nic Maddinson, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, D’Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Andrew Tye, Jack Wildermuth.