‘New faces’: World champs prepare for title defence
BIG Bash slugger Ben Mcdermott will walk into the Australian T20 team in the series against Sri Lanka as captain Aaron Finch confirmed new faces would filter through his World Cup winning outfit in 2022.
Finch declared the “detailed” planning for last year’s triumph would continue leading into a title defence on home soil in 2022 when Australia could be pitted against old enemy England in an MCG final in November after pools for the tournament were confirmed on Friday.
That planning could include bringing new players into the group for T20s in Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India before the tournament starts in October.
The squad for the immediate fivematch series against Sri Lanka will be discussed this weekend and without naming any other prospective inclusions Finch said Mcdermott, the leading runscorer in the BBL regularseason after carving out 571 runs for Hobart Hurricanes, including two centuries, would be in.
“He’s been in super form, the leading runscorer in the Big Bash and got some big hundreds which dominate games. I’d be very surprised if he’s not in,” Finch said. “We will select that over the weekend or early next week. It’s about managing guys’ workloads. There will be some guys who are still in the preparation phase for Pakistan and we’ll be mixing and matching and it’s always exciting to see some new faces.”
There are limited-overs games included on tours of Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India this year and Finch said it would be too much for players like Test captain Pat Cummins to play all three formats, particularly if they were still locked in bubbles.
That could open the door for a number of new players to get international exposure ahead of the title defence at home.
“I think particularly with how long guys are in hubs and bubbles, that’s really important to factor in,” Finch said. “The Pakistan Test series has some white-ball games, if guys play that and the Sri Lankan series in all three formats of the game, that will be really long.
“It will be about giving guys enough time to rest and recharge and have time at home to connect with people. That’s one thing we take a bit for granted, once you are in the hubs and bubbles all the time you are restricted with who you can see.
“There will be some different names in these which is exciting.”
Australia will play the first of five T20s against Sri Lanka at the SCG on February 11. The matches will all be played in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra to reduce player movement and potential exposure to Covid-19.