The Western Australia all-rounder Copper Connolly, who plays for the Perth Scorchers in the Big Bash League (BBL) has been handed his maiden international call-up in Australia’s T20I squad for the upcoming England and Scotland trip. The young sensational opening batter Jake Fraser McGurk has also been included in the limited-overs squads.
The national selectors have started to aim toward the future, as they gear up for their three-match T20I series against Scotland, at the Grange Cricket Club in Edinburgh. At the end of that trip, Australia will face their arch-rivals England in a three-match T20I and five-match ODI series, starting from September 11, at the Rose Bowl in Southampton.
The T20I squad reflects the beginning of the transition from the group that made a super-eight exit from the recently concluded T20 World Cup 2024. The ODI squad is more about keeping an eye on the next year’s Champions Trophy 2025 in Pakistan.
Pat Cummins gets rest from entire tour, Mitchell Starc to join in ODIs
The 20-year-old left-handed top order batter from Perth, Cooper Connolly has been part of 15 T20s, managing 226 runs at a strike rate of 145.80, with a best of 37*, which is quite inexperienced. However, his unbeaten 25-run knock in 11 balls, coming at number seven helped the Scorchers to win the BBL final in 2022-23.
The national selector George Bailey has praised the young batter, especially for his versatility, as he has worked through the middle order for the Perth side very impressively.
‘We haven’t had that many bolters for a little while. “He’s an exciting young talent.’ Bailey expressed. ‘Hasn’t played a great many games yet, but we really like his versatility, his work through the middle order for the Scorchers has been really impressive.’
Mitchell Marsh will continue his T20I captaincy, and will also lead the ODI side in the absence of Pat Cummins, who is rested from the entire tour because of a long home summer. The left-arm Australia pacer Mitchell Starc and spin all-rounder Glenn Maxwell will miss the shortest format before joining the ODIs. Matthew Short, who was in the reserves of the T20 World Cup, will make his trip to England for the ODI series, after the birth of his first child.
Cummins is one of the top Australian players to be part of the Major League Cricket (MLC), but Bailey feels that the pacer has been given a break to work physically.
‘He’s got a couple of things he wants to work on physically.’ The former Australia captain George Bailey noted. ‘He’s had a lot of cricket over the past period and this is an opportunity to get on top of those and set him up for the next period of time, it’s more a management of that.’
Marnus Labuschagne will be part of the ODI side, while Steve Smith wasn’t considered for the whole tour. The left-arm spinner Ashton Agar and the wicket-keeper batter Matthew Wade have been dropped from the T20I side.
Jake Fraser-McGurk has finally got a chance to cement his place in the Australia side in both the limited-overs formats. The 22-year-old has notched up 995 runs in 46 T20 innings at a strike rate of around 160, with seven fifties. The veteran leg-spinner Adam Zampa will be part of the whole tour.
Also Read: Pakistan Threatens To Skip T20 World Cup 2026 If India Denies Travel For Champions Trophy
Australia’s T20I squad against Scotland and England
Mitchell Marsh (captain), Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Spencer Johnson, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa
Australia’s ODI squad against England
Mitchell Marsh (captain), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Nathan Ellis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis (wk), Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Short, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa