Follow UsMitchell Owen will make his Australia debut in the first T20 International (T20I) against West Indies in Jamaica on July 20 (Sunday). Skipper Mitchell Marsh has confirmed Owen, who played a starring role in Hobart Hurricanes' Big Bash League (BBL) triumph, will be given his maiden international cap.
His impressive show in the BBL saw Owen being rewarded with contracts in the SA20, Pakistan Super League (PSL), Indian Premier League (IPL) and also the Major League Cricket (MLC).
Punjab Kings (PBKS) roped in the 23-year-old as a replacement for Glenn Maxwell, who was ruled out due to an injury. In his only match of the competition against the Rajasthan Royals (RR), Owen was dismissed for a two-ball duck.
Owen will bat in the middle-order, with Marsh opening the innings with Jake Fraser-McGurk, who has been roped in as a replacement for Matt Short who is out with a minor side strain. Short, as a result, has flown back home. Tim David, who has been out of action since his hamstring injury in the IPL, will sit out the first game with Cooper Connolly at seven.
Fraser-McGurk was left out of the initial 16-member squad, but was added later on as a replacement for injured fast bowler Spencer Johnson. It gives him a chance to redeem himself in T20Is, after having scored just 113 runs at a strike rate of 143.03 so far.
Australia XI for 1st T20I vs West Indies: Mitch Marsh (c), Jake Fraser-McGurk, Josh Inglis (wk), Cameron Green, Glenn Maxwell, Mitch Owen, Cooper Connolly, Ben Dwarshuis, Sean Abbott, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa