Australia name 17-member Ashes squad
The Australian selectors have sprung a major surprise by naming 17 players for the first Test match of the Ashes series against England. This is a far cry from the 13-member teams that Australia usually
announces for home Test matches, and is a clear indicator of how the lack of form has confused even the selectors.
Amongst those new faces are the likes of middle-order batsman, Callum Ferguson and left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty, who had recently made his ODI debut against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Usman-Khawaja-c2729 also got a call, while
the previously injured fast bowling pair of Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle made it to the 17 as well.
It was also announced that the final 13 players may be named at the end of the domestic games that will be played this week. Some of the players selected in this list of 17, like Ferguson and Khwaja, will
also feature in the first class game for Australia A against the England team and the selectors will have a look at their performances as well.
The chief selector Andrew Hilditch spoke about the decision to name Doherty in the side but was non-committal on who will play at Gabba in the first game.
“Nathan Hauritz has performed exceptionally well over the past 12 months for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746. Xavier Doherty has been very impressive in both limited-overs and first-class cricket, in particular last season
and the start of this season, and it will be a great opportunity for us to observe both of the spinning options in the Sheffield Shield clash between http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Tasmania-c854 at the SCG this week," said Hilditch.
The side also has five pace bowlers, out of whom three will be finally selected in the team. These include Mitchell Johnson, Ryan Harris, Peter Siddle, Ben Hilfenhaus and Doug Bollinger.
The selection of Khwaja and Ferguson will act as a back up to the pair of Marcus North and Michael Hussey, both of whom have been under pressure to retain their places in the side due to their lack of runs.
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