Zampa, but not Khawaja, picked for ODIs

Cricket365
January 27, 2016

Australia have named their squad for the ODI series against New Zealand, but have not included in-form batsman Usman Khawaja, despite his blistering efforts in the Big Bash League, which his side, the Sydney Thunder, won.

Khawaja was the driving force behind the Thunder's title charge, and his omission was a slight shock. Another interesting call was the inclusion of spinner Adam Zampa, which saw Nathan Lyon dropped from the squad.

Lyon's exit was the only change from the squad that beat India 4-1 in their recent series, with Zampa earning his call up after taking 12 wickets in the BBL, at an average under 23.

National Selector Rod Marsh said on the CA website: "We want Nathan to use the NSW versus West Australia Sheffield Shield match in New Zealand as preparation for the Test Series and this will give us a chance to have a good look at Adam ahead of the ICC World T20.

"Adam has certainly put forward a strong case for selection through good performances in the KFC Big Bash as well as the Matador Cup earlier in the season and we think he has thoroughly earned this opportunity."

Marsh didn't offer a reason for Khawaja's omission, despite the batsman averaging over 140 across all formats this season, but went on to discuss the conditions in New Zealand.

Marsh added: "We know one of the biggest challenges we will face in New Zealand is adapting to the change in conditions.

"It has been well documented that this is something we have struggled with in recent times and a major focus for this squad will be to reverse that trend.

"The New Zealand side will be very tough to beat in their home conditions. We know we will need to be at the top of our game if we want to be competitive."

Australia ODI squad for Chappell-Hadlee Trophy: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), George Bailey, Scott Boland, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, John Hastings, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa