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          Connolly earns Australia call-up; Fraser-McGurk included for Scotland, England tour

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          Clarke: Some Australia players might walk away from T20Is (1:23)

          Michael Clarke says the selectors need to start thinking about the 2026 T20 World Cup straightaway (1:23)

          • Andrew McGlashan, Deputy editor, ESPNcricinfoJul 15, 2024, 09:42 AM
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              Deputy Editor Andrew arrived at ESPNcricinfo via Manchester and Cape Town, after finding the assistant editor at a weak moment as he watched England's batting collapse in the Newlands Test. Andrew began his cricket writing as a freelance covering Lancashire during 2004 when they were relegated in the County Championship. In fact, they were top of the table when he began reporting on them but things went dramatically downhill. He likes to let people know that he is a supporter of county cricket, a fact his colleagues will testify to and bemoan in equal quantities.

          Perth Scorchers and Western Australia allrounder Cooper Connolly has been handed his first international call-up for Australia's T20I squad to face Scotland and England, while Jake Fraser-McGurk has been included in both the T20I and ODI squad as the selectors start to glance towards the future.

          Australia will play three T20Is against Scotland and England from early September, and the squad reflects the start of the transition from the group that exited the recent T20 World Cup in the Super Eights. The ODI squad is more stable with an eye on next year's Champions Trophy in Pakistan.

          Fraser-McGurk's inclusion had been expected, and he now has the chance to establish himself as David Warner's successor at the top of the order in both limited-overs formats. He has yet to make his T20I debut, but played two ODIs against West Indies last season.

          Connolly, the 20-year-old left hand batter, has only featured in 15 domestic T20s, but played a starring role in the BBL 2022-23 final to secure Scorchers the title. He strikes at 145.80 in T20s, and also provides a useful left-arm spin option. Connolly also made 90 on his Sheffield Shield debut, in the final, earlier this year.

          "We haven't had that many bolters for a little while," national selector George Bailey said. "He's an exciting young talent. 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. Handy left-arm spin as well which, as a secondary skill, is something we are really keen to keep exploring and see where that goes with his cricket."

          Mitchell Marsh remains the T20I captain, and will also lead the ODI side in the absence of Pat Cummins, who is rested from the entire Scotland and England tour ahead of the home summer. Mitchell Starc and Glenn Maxwell will also miss the T20Is before joining for the ODIs, while allrounder Matthew Short, who was a traveling reserve at the T20 World Cup, will remain at home for the birth of his first child before arriving for the five ODIs against England.

          Cummins is currently among the group of Australians taking part in the ongoing MLC, but Bailey said missing the Scotland and England tour had been in the planning for around 12 months with an eye on a condensed schedule that comes once the home summer begins.

          "He's got a couple of things he wants to work on physically," Bailey said. "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. The MLC opportunity came reasonably late, [and] as far as the plan went, it's an extra 18 or 19 days that he's up for, [so] it doesn't fundamentally change the plan we had for him."

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          2:32
          Bailey impressed with Connolly's 'versatility'

          Cooper Connolly is one of the new faces in Australia's T20I squad, which will tour Scotland and England in September

          From those who featured in the T20 World Cup in the USA and West Indies last month, Ashton Agar and Matthew Wade have been dropped from the T20I squad, while Warner has retired.

          In the T20I squad, Xavier Bartlett, Spencer Johnson and Nathan Ellis will be part of the pace attack alongside the experience of Josh Hazlewood. Allrounders Cameron Green and Aaron Hardie are included across both formats with the former likely to see far more opportunity. Josh Inglis will replace Wade with the gloves in T20Is.

          Alex Carey is back in the ODI squad as Inglis' understudy, having lost his place in the XI during last year's World Cup.

          The T20Is against Scotland, which replace the tour of Ireland which was cancelled by the hosts for financial reasons, take place on September 4, 6 and 7. Three T20Is against England follow on September 11, 13 and 15, followed by the five ODIs.

          Australia T20I squad vs Scotland and England

          Mitchell Marsh (capt), 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 ODI squad vs England

          Mitchell Marsh (capt), 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