Australia to play Agar, Richardson in T20I opener against Sri Lanka

In the absence of Pat Cummins (rested) and Adam Zampa (at home for the birth of his first child), Australia have named Ashton Agar and Kane Richardson in their playing XI for the first T20I of the three-match series against Sri Lanka in Colombo on Tuesday (June 7).

The remaining nine players featured in the grand finale of the 2021 T20 World Cup where Australia defeated New Zealand to claim their maiden T20 title. 

Mitchell Starc, Kane Richardson and Josh Hazlewood are the frontline pacers, while Ashton Agar and Glenn Maxwell will take care of the spin department. Allrounders Mitch Marsh and Marcus Stoinis could also chip in if and when needed.

"There was a temptation there (to play two spinners) but having seen the conditions over the last couple of days, the square is quite green, there's been a lot of rain around and the outfield is quite heavy," Aaron Finch told reporters on Monday.

"Expecting there to be a bit of spin there but it might be a tacky sort of spin. It's not a dry square, it's not a dry surface by any stretch. There hasn't been a huge amount of cricket here and with it being the wet season, the wickets are under covers a lot more than what they generally would.

"If Sri Lanka had their preference, it'd probably be on the drier side. But they've (had) a fantastic fast bowling attack over the last couple of years, led by (Dushmantha) Chameera."

Having missed the T20I series against Sri Lanka at home in February and a one-off match against Pakistan in April, Marsh, David Warner, Maxwell and Steve Smith are all back in the XI. Meanwhile, Kane Richardson has been picked ahead of Sean Abbott and Jhye Richardson. 

Talking about Josh Inglis' omission, Finch said: "He's so close, he's really stiff. Every chance he's had, he's taken with both hands. He's a super talented young payer. He's shown his ability to float throughout the order in international cricket and domestic cricket.

"He'll definitely get an opportunity with the quick back-ups between the three T20s and then the five ODIs being really congested. There will be an opportunity for Josh at some point. He's made every post a winner."

When asked about the outfield, the Australian white-ball skipper said: "I reckon there will be quite a lot of sun over the next 24 hours, so that will dry it out. But it will definitely be on the slower side compared to what we're used to in these parts of the world, where they're usually lightning-fast outfields.

"This will be a little bit more of a running game, I think the boundaries will be pushed back slightly. It will come down to using our smarts, using our ability to manipulate the ball into gaps and running hard."