World Twenty20 squads named

Cricket Australia (CA) today announced the men’s and women’s squads for the ICC World Twenty20 coming up in September in Sri Lanka.

The Australian women’s team, the Southern Stars, are the defending champions, while the men’s team will be looking to go one better than their runners-up finish in 2010 in West Indies.

In the 2010 women’s final, played as a double-header with the men’s game, the Southern Stars scraped home with just two balls to spare after Player of the match Ellyse Perry bowled a tight final to win a thriller against New Zealand. Earlier, the men’s team finished as runners-up to England in the final and then stayed on to watch the Southern Stars get home, cheering from the stands.

Men’s: George Bailey (c), Shane Watson (vc), Dan Christian, Patrick Cummins, Xavier Doherty, Ben Hilfenhaus, Brad Hogg, David Hussey, Mike Hussey, Glenn Maxwell, Clint McKay, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Cameron White.

Women’s: Jodie Fields (c), Alex Blackwell (vc), Jess Cameron, Sarah Coyte, Lauren Ebsary, Rachael Haynes, Alyssa Healy, Julie Hunter, Jess Jonassen, Meg Lanning, Erin Osborne, Ellyse Perry, Leah Poulton, Lisa Sthalekar.

Commenting on the men’s 15-player squad, National Selector John Inverarity said: “The ICC World Twenty20 15-man squad is the same as the T20 squad scheduled to play against Pakistan in the UAE in early September.

“A real strength of the squad is its flexibility and versatility. It’s a well-balanced side that will provide the captain, George Bailey, with plenty of options in both the batting line-up and bowling possibilities.

“The seam bowling has depth with Clint McKay, Pat Cummins, Ben Hilfenhaus and Mitch Starc along with all-rounders Shane Watson and Dan Christian, and to a lesser extent Michael Hussey, who could be useful for an occasional over or two.

“Similarly there is depth in the spin bowling department with Brad Hogg, Xavier Doherty and also all-rounders Glenn Maxwell and David Hussey. You can then add to that the possibility of the wrist spin of Cameron White and David Warner.

“There is a great deal of explosive strike power in the batting line-up that could see Matthew Wade at six, Cameron White at seven and either Dan Christian or Glenn Maxwell at eight. There is also a good blend of left and right handers with David Warner, Michael Hussey and Wade likely to be in the top seven.

“The ICC World Twenty20 promises to be a very exciting event as T20 cricket is so unpredictable. Our squad will be well prepared and we look forward to them playing some outstanding cricket and acquitting themselves especially well.”

Commenting on the 14-player Southern Stars squad, WNSP Chair of Selectors Julie Savage said: “The WNSP has selected a talented squad to defend our ICC World Twenty20 crown in Sri Lanka.

“There is one change to the squad that travelled to India in March, and won the T20 series against India 4-1, with South Australian all-rounder Lauren Ebsary coming into the squad at the expense of pace bowler Sharon Millanta.

“We believe that Lauren’s all-round ability across the three disciplines of batting, bowling and fielding gives the team more competitive options for success in this event.

“We anticipate that this ICC World Twenty20 will be a very challenging event; the Quad Series held last year suggests England is the form side in this format and our recent experiences in Sri Lanka on a training camp over the last two weeks revealed significant improvements in the Sri Lankan side. With this trend of improving depth in the women’s sides across the world, this event will be extremely close.

“The AIS Southern Stars squad relished the opportunity to acclimatise to Sri Lankan conditions in Colombo last week and to have some competitive games against New Zealand, Sri Lanka and a Sri Lanka Under-19 men’s team.

“Very few of the squad had played cricket in Sri Lanka previously, thus the training camp has provided the perfect conclusion to our preparation for success at the ICC World Twenty20.”

Australia’s campaign will officially commence on Wednesday September 19 in Colombo against Ireland, while the Southern Stars get started against India on September 27 at Galle.

Both the men’s and women’s tournaments will be played concurrently, finishing with a double-header final on Sunday October 7 in Colombo.

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