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CRICKET-AUS-RSA-ODI,SQUAD
Paine axed with Finch named Australia’s new ODI skipper
SYDNEY, Oct 27, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Aaron Finch was named Australia’s new one-
day captain Saturday ahead of their upcoming series against South Africa,
with Test skipper Tim Paine and his deputy Mitch Marsh axed.
The explosive batsman is already in charge of the Twenty20 team and takes
over from Paine who averaged just 7.2 in Australia’s 5-0 ODI series rout by
England in June.
Spin veteran Nathan Lyon was another notable omission, although Shaun
Marsh kept his place despite a dire recent Test series against Pakistan in
the United Arab Emirates.
Alex Carey and Josh Hazlewood were appointed joint vice-captains in a 14-
man squad that sees the return of fast bowlers Mitchell Starc and Pat
Cummins.
“It’s very exciting. I’m very humbled, very honoured to lead the side and
lead Australia,” Finch said, welcoming having a bowler as his deputy.
“I think it’s really important to have the voice of the bowlers there as
well… a lot of the time batters are in leadership roles and bowlers are
neglected in terms of that and it’s almost an ‘us versus them’ at times.”
National selector Trevor Hohns said the leadership decisions were based on
presentations the players made, their vision for Australian cricket and their
actions on and off the field.
“We expect Aaron, Josh and Alex to lead the side through a big Australian
summer… they’ll also be driving our standards and values as we prepare our
defence of the World Cup, which is only seven months away,” he said.
“We believe the squad we have selected will give us a great opportunity to
not only be competitive at home this summer, but it also allows us to start
to build continuity leading into next year’s tournament.”
Finch, Marsh, Travis Head and Glenn Maxwell spearhead the batting while
big-hitting Chris Lynn has been recalled, with Carey taking over the
wicketkeeping duties from Paine.
“Alex Carey will pull on the gloves full-time to allow Tim Paine to focus
purely on captaining the Test team, which includes preparing for next year’s
Ashes,” said Hohns in explaining why Paine was dropped.
“Alex provides us with another strong batting option, as he displayed in
last year’s Big Bash, and he’s a wonderful young leader to have around the
group and out in the field.”
Two spin bowlers were included in the absence of Lyon — Ashton Agar and
Adam Zampa.
Despite Lyon and Mitch Marsh being dropped, Hohns suggested the door was
not shut for their return leading into the World Cup next year.
“We have made the decision to manage Mitch Marsh and Nathan Lyon carefully
to ensure they are in the best condition possible to put their hand up for
selection either later in the summer or for the World Cup next year,” he
said.
“No doubt with a big summer program ahead opportunities may well present
themselves for Andrew (Tye), Mitch and Nathan, as well as others not included
in this squad.”
Australia play three one-dayers against South Africa starting in Perth on
November 4.
Aaron Finch (capt), Shaun Marsh, Travis Head, Chris Lynn, Glenn Maxwell,
D’Arcy Short, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey, Ashton Agar, Mitchell Starc, Josh
Hazlewood, Pat Cummins, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Adam Zampa.
BSS/AFP/SSS/1040 hrs