Nathan McSweeney has been recalled to Australia’s Test squad to tour Sri Lanka, less than three weeks after being dropped from the top order.
Australia’s selectors named their squad for the two-Test tour on Thursday, with several fresh faces added to the side that played India in Sydney last week. McSweeney is one of those, while spinners Todd Murphy and Matthew Kuhnemann have also been recalled.
McSweeney scored 72 runs at an average of 14.4 in his first three Tests against India, before being replaced by Sam Konstas for the Boxing Day Test. But the South Australian’s runs came after being handed the toughest job in cricket, asked to debut against Jasprit Bumrah after having never opened in the Sheffield Shield.
The 25-year-old’s recall to the Test squad shows he is still very much in selectors’ thoughts as the team enters a transition era, and could well return as a middle-order player. McSweeney has found a home batting at No 3 for South Australia this summer – averaging 97 – but has previously batted further down.
“Sri Lanka is a challenging and exciting place to tour given the different conditions players may be presented with,” George Bailey, Cricket Australia chair of selectors, said in a statement. “This squad provides several ways to structure the XI depending on what type of wickets we may encounter in each match.
“We are excited about the opportunity ahead for the squad members who are at the start of their Test careers to continue to grow their games in subcontinent conditions where we have a number of important tours in coming years.”
Australia already have a decision to make with its opening slots in Sri Lanka, with Sam Konstas and Usman Khawaja having finished the Border-Gavaskar Trophy together. Travis Head opened on Australia’s last tour of Asia against India in 2023, and was considered a likely chance to do so again for these matches against Sri Lanka.
But that would require Australia to either drop Khawaja or Konstas, with the former one of the team’s best players of spin and the latter ready to benefit from experience in the sub-continent. If Head was to move to the top, it would create an opening for McSweeney to come into the side in the middle order.
Josh Inglis would be another option to come into the team after being named in the squad.
Beau Webster is also expected to retain his spot after an impressive debut in Sydney, hitting 57 in the first innings before sealing the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for Australia with an unbeaten 39 in the second. His performances have put the future of Mitch Marsh in further doubt, with the West Australian left out of the squad to be taken to Sri Lanka.
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Cooper Connolly will travel as a spinning all-rounder, in a role Glenn Maxwell had initially been considered some chance to return to. Nathan Lyon will have spin back up in the form of Kuhnemann and Murphy, with Australia every chance of playing all three tweakers in both Tests in Galle.
Steve Smith will captain the team, with Pat Cummins having already confirmed he expects to stay at home for the birth of his second child.
Australia’s 3-1 victory in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy means they have already qualified for the World Test Championship final against South Africa at Lord’s in June. But the Warne-Muralitharan Trophy is still on the line in the two Tests, with Australia aiming to retain their status of holding every bilateral Test trophy available to them.
Australia squad: Steve Smith (capt), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Travis Head (vc), Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Matt Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Nathan McSweeney, Todd Murphy,
Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster
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