Australia calls uncapped Swepson for India tour

Australia unveiled its 16-man squad for the four-Test series, starting against India on February 23, with leg-spinner Mitchell Swepson among the inclusions.

Published : Jan 15, 2017 09:01 IST

Leg-spinner Mitch Swepson has only made 13 first-class appearances for Queensland, taking 41 wickets.
Leg-spinner Mitch Swepson has only made 13 first-class appearances for Queensland, taking 41 wickets.
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Leg-spinner Mitch Swepson has only made 13 first-class appearances for Queensland, taking 41 wickets.

Leg-spinner Mitchell Swepson could be in line for a Test debut after being included in Australia's squad for the upcoming tour of India.

Australia unveiled its 16-man squad for the four-Test series, starting against the top-ranked side on February 23, with Swepson among the inclusions on Sunday.

All-rounder and One-Day International/Twenty20 specialist Glenn Maxwell has also been named, along with Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh and Ashton Agar as Hilton Cartwright missed out following his debut in the third and final Test against Pakistan earlier in January.

"We don't know what pitch conditions we will come up against in each of the venues but wanted to have flexibility and options available to us," interim national selector Trevor Hohns said in a statement.

"We know India is an incredibly tough place to tour and have success in, with most International teams struggling to adapt to the conditions, but we have chosen a squad which we believe will work really hard in its endeavours to perform well and give a good account of itself in the sub-continent.

"We expect all of the young players chosen to benefit immensely from the experience."

Swepson has only made 13 first-class appearances for Queensland, taking 41 wickets at an average of 32.82.

The 23-year-old is one of five spin options in the squad, which includes Agar, Maxwell and leading spinners Nathan Lyon and Stephen O'Keefe in Steve Smith's side after Australia's 3-0 series whitewash of Pakistan.

"[Swepson] is an exciting young leg-spinner that has come through the pathway system," he said. "We feel he has a lot of potential and want to see him take his opportunity in conditions that should suit him should he get a chance.

"[Agar] is a good left-arm orthodox spinner who can be very exciting with the bat and also fields extremely well. He provides us with a great all-round package."

Shaun Marsh returns to the Test fold after breaking a finger against South Africa last November, Jackson Bird is back in the squad in a pace frontline including Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, while Matthew Wade retains his position as wicketkeeper as Australia look to win a series in India for the first time since 2004.

 

Australia squad: Steve Smith (captain), David Warner, Ashton Agar, Jackson Bird, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Stephen O'Keefe, Matthew Renshaw, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade

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