GUWAHATI, Jan 9: Former skipper Steve Smith has been named captain of Australia for their 2-test tour of Sri Lanka while former Australia U-19 Cricket World Cup captain Cooper Connolly has been drafted into the team for the red-ball series.
Smith leads the team in the absence of Pat Cummins, who is both on paternity leave and dealing with a slight ankle injury.
Nathan McSweeney has been recalled despite being dropped for the last two Tests of the recently-concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy played in Melbourne and Sydney.
Josh Inglis and Sean Abbott were also included in the squad while Glenn Maxwell, Adam Zampa and Peter Handscomb were ignored by the Australian national selectors.
While the first Test will begin at Galle on Jan 29, the second and concluding Test of the series will be played at the same venue from February 6 to 10.
Australia Squad: Steve Smith (Captain), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Travis Head (Vice-Captainc), Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Matt Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Nathan McSweeney, Todd Murphy, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster
