Smith to captain, Vics miss out and bolter earns place in 16-man Sri Lanka Test squad

Australia has announced a 16-man Test squad for the upcoming two-match tour of Sri Lanka.

Steve Smith will captain the side across both Tests in Galle as Pat Cummins remains home on paternity leave. The paceman is also recovering from an ankle issue that he managed across the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Mitch Marsh has been omitted from the squad entirely, with 21-year-old Cooper Connolly called up to a Test squad for the first time. The other uncapped names in the squad are Josh Inglis and Sean Abbott.

The selectors have also left out Josh Hazlewood who continues to recover from a calf injury, while spinners Matt Kuhnemann and Todd Murphy have also been named.

Victorian pair Glenn Maxwell and Peter Handscomb missed out on selection.

Chairman of selectors George Bailey thinks that the squad provides selectors several ways to structure the playing XI to different conditions.

“Sri Lanka is a challenging and exciting place to tour given the different conditions players may be presented with. This squad provides several ways to structure the XI depending on what type of wickets we may encounter in each match,” Bailey said via a statement.

“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.”

16-man Test squad for Sri Lanka series.

Steve Smith (c)   Travis Head (vc)   Sean Abbott    Scott Boland    Alex Carey    Cooper Connolly    Josh Inglis    Usman Khawaja    Sam Konstas    Matt Kuhnemann    Marnus Labuschagne    Nathan Lyon    Nathan McSweeney    Todd Murphy    Mitchell Starc    Beau Webster   

Listen to every ball of the Sri Lanka Test series LIVE on SEN. The first Test begins in Galle on January 29.