Dan Christian has been added to the initial Australia white-ball squad ahead of the tours of the West Indies and Bangladesh. The selectors have brought in six further names to the large preliminary group of players, which indicates that a number of those who had been part of the IPL before it was suspended are unlikely to make the trip.
Alongside Christian, who last played for Australia in 2017, Ben McDermott, Cameron Green, Ashton Turner, Wes Agar and Nathan Ellis have been added to the initial squad, which now numbers 29 and will be trimmed ahead of the team's departure for the Caribbean in late June.
This week, Christian (Nottinghamshire) and McDermott (Derbyshire) will leave their respective counties, where they had been due to play the T20 Blast, and return to Australia to complete two weeks quarantine ahead of possible selection for West Indies.
Marcus Labuschagne has again been overlooked after the selectors took the decision when the squad was first named for him to remain with Glamorgan.
It had previously been reported that David Warner and Pat Cummins may miss the upcoming tours to spend time at home. While no further detail has been provided on specific names, national selector Trevor Hohns said the impact of the IPL, which included a long journey home as the Australia contingent had to wait out Australia's borders being shut to arrivals from India, had taken its toll.
"The six additions to the Australian men's squad follow discussions with players selected in the initial preliminary list for the tours of the West Indies and Bangladesh," Hohns said. "During the course of those discussions, it has become clear that recent experiences abroad, including but not limited to extended periods in bio-secure hubs and hard quarantine, have had an impact on the health and wellbeing of some players and their families.
"CA has maintained that the wellbeing of players, staff and officials is a top priority, and never moreso than during the Covid-19 pandemic given the extraordinary challenges it has placed upon international athletes and sporting teams."
The recall for Christian gives him the chance to make a late push for the T20 World Cup squad after a BBL season where he was an integral part of the Sydney Sixers side that claimed the title.
Although regularly overlooked despite his consistent returns at domestic level, speaking before the IPL where he had a deal with the Royal Challengers Bangalore, Christian had said he had not given up.
"I'd love another opportunity - obviously Australia have never won a T20 World Cup, and being part of a World Cup-winning squad is one thing I'd love to do," he said. "I've kept in touch [with the selectors]. I played a lot with George Bailey, so we speak a bit, and I've talked to Justin Langer a little bit as well.
"I think it is realistic - I'm not completely on the outer, put it that way. If I'm putting performances on the board, staying fit, and the teams I'm playing in are winning, then I'd like to think that I'm certainly a chance."
Hohns said, "Dan is in arguably career-best form and was a crucial member of the Sydney Sixers' BBL-winning squad this summer. His selection is testament to the hard work he has put in over many years."
Of the other players added to the squad, Agar, the South Australia and Adelaide Strikers quick, and Ellis of Tasmania and the Hobart Hurricanes, have earned their first national call-ups.
Turner was part of the T20I squad that toured New Zealand earlier this year, while Green made his ODI debut against India late last year.
The West Indies tour includes five T20Is and three ODIs with the squad then expected to travel straight to Bangladesh if that gets the final sign-off where there would be five more T20Is in the space of about nine days in early August.
Dan Christian
Ben McDermott
Cameron Green
Ashton Turner
Wes Agar
Nathan Ellis
Trevor Hohns
Australia
Australia tour of West Indies
Andrew McGlashan is a deputy editor at ESPNcricinfo
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