Australia's experienced campaigner Josh Hazlewood will miss the three-T20I series against Scotland in September after suffering a calf strain while bowling in the nets on August 20 (Tuesday). Riley Meredith has been named his replacement for the T20I series.
Resting Hazlewood for the series is a precautionary measure keeping in mind the long summer ahead. He is likely to be available for the T20I and ODI series against England.
Hazlewood is the second pacer to get ruled out of the squad. Earlier this month, left-arm pacer Spencer Johnson picked up a side strain as well. It took place while he was playing in the recently concluded The Hundred for Oval Invincibles.
Meanwhile, Meredith is making a comeback after a long gap of three years. His last T20I appearance was in 2021 against West Indies. He conceded 57 runs in his quota of four overs and bagged a wicket. So far, he has eight wickets from five games.
Meredith in good form on English pitches
The 28-year-old has been in good form of late. He played for Somerset in One-Day Cup and T20 Blast. He has bagged 14 wickets from 12 games at an average of 22.78. His economy rate is 7.59 runs per over. The tall pacer is Somerset's second-highest wicket-taker in the ongoing season.
He will join forces with pacers Sean Abbott, Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green and Marcus Stoinis. Meredith has a chance to prove himself as Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins have been rested for the series. While Cummins is missing the UK tour including the English leg entirely, Starc will return for the ODI series against Jos Buttler's side.
Australia will leave for Scotland on August 26. The T20I series is set to start on September 4 in Edinburgh.
Australia T20I squad vs Scotland
Mitchell Marsh (c), Sean Abbott, Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Riley Meredith, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa
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