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Sports: Cricket Australia (CA) announced the 14-man squad for the three-match ODI series against Pakistan next month with regular skipper Pat Cummins returning. Cummins and all-rounder Marcus Stoinis returned as Australia retained most of the squad from the England tour with a couple of key members of the personnel, vice-captain Mitchell Marsh and in-form opener Travis Head missing out due to their respective parental leaves.
Head missing out means that Jake Fraser-McGurk will get a full three-match series in his attempt to cement his spot in the white-ball side with Matt Short likely to be his opening partner for the assignment. Wicketkeeper Alex Carey, who created a headache for the selectors with a couple of outstanding returns in the England series, missed out as he will continue to hone his red-ball skills ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India next month. Carey smashed a ton in the Sheffield Shield a couple of days ago.
The rest of the line-up remains the same with the big three fast bowlers - Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood set to share the bulk of the pace bowling duties with Aaron Hardie for support. None of Nathan Ellis, Xavier Bartlett, Ben Dwarshuis and Riley Meredith, who left the England tour with injuries, have been included in the squad.
With Marsh missing out, Stoinis has been handed an ODI lifeline and with the Champions Trophy in sight and Cameron Green unavailable for probably next six months, the veteran all-rounder would want to seal the backup all-rounder spot.
The three-match ODI series begins in Melbourne on November 4 with the remaining games scheduled for November 8 and 10 in Adelaide and Perth.
Australia squad for Pakistan ODI series: Pat Cummins (c), Matthew Short, Steve Smith, Josh Inglis (wk), Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Aaron Hardie, Cooper Connolly, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood, Sean Abbott, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Marcus Stoinis
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