On Monday, January 13, the Australian national cricket team announced a strong 15-man squad for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2025, which will be played across Pakistan and the UAE.
Team Australia will be led by Pat Cummins at the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy as he has been added to the squad and named captain, but his participation in the tournament remains under wraps as CA head coach George Bailey earlier revealed the pacer has some ankle problems.
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3 big changes to the Australian team
Australia’s national cricket team won the last ICC 50-over World Cup in November 2023 and they made 3 major changes from that team.
Veteran opener David Warner has retired from international cricket, star all-rounder Cameron Green is currently out of action following back surgery and pacer Sean Abbott has been left out.
They have been replaced by Matt Short, Aaron Hardie and Nathan Ellis in the preliminary 15-man squad for the Champions Trophy. Notably, Jake Fraser-McGurk, who was seen as David Warner’s successor, failed to make the cut after failing to impress the selection committee
Meanwhile, master pacer Josh Hazlewood, who is recovering from a calf injury, and all-rounder Mitch Marsh, who was dropped from the Sri Lanka Test squad, have also been added to Australia’s squad for the Champions Trophy.
This is a balanced and experienced team – George Bailey
In an official statement released by CA, George Bailey stated that the selection committee has selected a balanced and experienced Australian squad for the 8-team tournament in Pakistan and UAE.
“This is a balanced and experienced squad with a core that has featured in the previous one-day World Cup, the West Indies series, last year’s successful tour of the United Kingdom and the more recent home series in Pakistan,” Bailey said.
“It offers a range of options to manage the tour depending on the opposition and the conditions that may arise in Pakistan.”
Australia last won the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy in 2009 and will face England cricket team, South Africa national cricket team and Afghanistan national team in the group stage of the tournament on February 22, 25 and 28.
Before heading into the competition, the same team will take on the Sri Lanka National Cricket Team in a one-off ODI to prepare for the 50-over matches. Also, the Aussies can make changes to their 15-man squad up to a week before the first game, if necessary.
Meanwhile, the Champions Trophy was last played in 2017 in England and in that tournament, Pakistan emerged victorious by defeating India in the final at The Oval.
Australia squad for ICC Champions Trophy 2025
Preliminary squad: Pat Cummins (c), Alex Carey, Nathan Ellis, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Matt Short, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa
