GEELONG SERIES TO TEST AUSSIE DEPTH

TEAM Australia’s two-game series against KBO champions Doosan Bears in Geelong next week will provide a chance to test its depth, according to manager David Nilsson.

Australia’s 24-strong squad for the two games, which will serve as an important step ahead of April’s last-chance Olympic qualifier in Taiwan, includes eight players who were not part of last November’s Premier12 campaign.

Infielders Cam Warner, Curtis Mead and Jacob Younis, catcher Alex Hall, outfielder Ulrich Bojarski and pitchers Josh Warner and Mitch Neunborn have been selected to face Doosan after not being on Team Australia’s Premier12 roster.

Nilsson said it was a great opportunity for the individuals and to help build the national team’s depth.

“Obviously I like the team to play well … but the main thing is an introduction to the environment and how we operate and do things,” he said.

“Any time the national team gets together it’s good for communication and reiterating what we’re trying to achieve and how we’re trying to go about it.”

Geelong-Korea manager Graeme Lloyd is part of Team Australia’s coaching staff.

Nilsson said injuries, form and

ABL workloads or professional commitments had been taken into account when selecting the squad for the games, which form part of Doosan’s pre-season camp, on February 16 and 18.

“We’ve had quite a bit of turnover,” Nilsson said.

“We had a good performance in November and you always want to try and reward guys that have performed, but Team Australia is always evolving.

“There’s probably three reasons for turnover — one is injuries, the second is performance and the third one is availability.”

Nilsson said spots on Team Australia’s roster for the lastchance qualifier in April were wide open and those players not headed to Geelong were still very much in the picture.

“I’m sure there are some disappointed people, but the reality of it is to have a successful Team Australia we need to have some depth,” he said.

“Everyone is still in the frame and part of a larger Australian squad.

“The message to them is keep preparing and be ready.

“As we saw last year at Premier12, we don’t know when injuries are going to happen, we don’t know unavailability (for Taiwan).”

Tickets are on sale now at baseball.com.au/tickets.