Cooper Connolly earns maiden Australian call-up for white-ball tour of the United Kingdom

Australia has announced its squad for the upcoming white-ball tour of the United Kingdom, with West Australian young gun Cooper Connolly earning his maiden international call-up.

On Monday afternoon, Cricket Australia unveiled its touring party for September’s tour of Scotland and England, which features three T20Is against Scotland in Edinburgh along with three T20Is and five ODIs against England across the United Kingdom, including a 50-over clash at Lord’s on September 27.

Connolly, who steered the Perth Scorchers to a remarkable victory in last year’s Big Bash League final against the Brisbane Heat, has been named in the T20 squad, while fellow rising stars Xavier Bartlett, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Aaron Hardie and Spencer Johnson earned a recall.

The 20-year-old Connolly, who captained Australia at the Under-19 World Cup in 2022, scored 181 runs at 22.62 with a strike rate of 136.09 during last summer’s Big Bash.

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Fraser-McGurk, who turned heads earlier this year during an explosive campaign with the Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League, is expected to replace the retired David Warner at the top of the order.

Spinner Ashton Agar and wicketkeeper Matthew Wade, who represented Australia during last month’s T20 World Cup campaign in the Caribbean, have both been dropped.

Victorian batter Matthew Short will remain home for the birth of his first child before joining the Australian squad for the ODIs in England, while Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Starc will miss the T20Is due to workload management.

Australian Test captain Pat Cummins has been rested for the entire series, with all-rounder Mitchell Marsh leading both sides in his absence.

“This tour gives us a great opportunity to bring in some new players in the absence of David Warner and Matthew Wade, as well as giving some senior players time to prepare for the home summer and a busy first half of next year,” chair of selectors George Bailey said in a statement.

“We are particularly pleased to offer Cooper his first opportunity in the T20 squad having introduced the likes of Jake, Spencer, Xavier and Aaron in the past 12 months.

“They are exciting prospects to join the likes of Cameron Green, Nathan Ellis and Josh Inglis in the white ball setup.

“With the Champions Trophy on our doorstep early next year, the white ball series against Pakistan leading into the summer and a huge home Test series against India there has been a lot of planning invested into these next six months.

“That has included gradual integration of new players into our white ball squads who have earned international opportunities via excellent form in Big Bash or State cricket.”

Australian T20 squad vs Scotland and England

Mitchell Marsh (c)

Xavier Bartlett

Cooper Connolly

Tim David

Nathan Ellis

Jake Fraser-McGurk

Cameron Green

Aaron Hardie

Josh Hazlewood

Travis Head

Josh Inglis

Spencer Johnson

Marcus Stoinis

Adam Zampa

Australian ODI squad vs England

Mitchell Marsh (c)