Seven including Warner, Cummins withdraw from white-ball tours of West Indies, Bangladesh

Australia have trimmed down their squad for white-ball tours of West Indies and Bangladesh after seven players including David Warner, Steven Smith and Pat Cummins pull out, four months ahead of the T20 World Cup. Marcus Stoinis, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson and Daniel Sams too have withdrawn from the squad.

Smith has withdrawn due to an elbow injury, while Sams has requested not to be considered on health and well-being grounds. Cummins, Glenn Maxwell, Warner, Stoinis and Jhye Richardson had to spend one week in the Maldives after the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 was postponed after surge in Covid-19 cases in India. Kane Richardson left India three weeks before the rest of the contingent along with Adam Zampa. 

"Steve Smith was unavailable for selection due to an elbow injury and will now be able to use this time to fully recover ahead of the World Cup and home Ashes series. Steve was disappointed to miss the tour with the decision made on medical grounds," head selector Trevor Hohns said in a statement.

Andrew Tye, who was part of the Rajasthan Royals (RR) squad too left India before the Australian government's travel ban came into effect. While Zampa and Tye will be a part of the Australian squad, Richardson has refused to tour. Jason Behrendroff, Moises Henriques and Riley Meredith will be a part of the Australia limited-overs tours despite being part of the IPL contingent. 

"We are naturally disappointed not to have all players available for the Australian team at this time however the NSP (National Selection Panel) respects the decisions of those who have opted out of this tour," Hohns added.

Dan Christian and Ben McDermott are currently in hotel quarantine in Australia after arriving from the UK, following their county stints. Australia had announced a preliminary 29-member squad for the tours initially, from which nine, including D'Arcy Short and Cameron Green have been omitted.

Australia limited-overs squad for tour of West Indies, Bangladesh: Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Wes Agar, Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey, Dan Christian, Josh Hazlewood, Moises Henriques, Mitchell Marsh, Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Josh Philippe, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa. 

Reserves: Nathan Ellils, Tanveer Sangha.