David Warner rested for England ODI; Smith appointed captain in Bailey's absence
Australia will be without the services of opening batsman David Warner when they take on England in the fourth game of tri-series at the Blundstone Arena in Hobart on Friday. The left-hander was involved in a heated incident with India’s Rohit Sharma in the match on Sunday and was, consequently, fined 50% of his match fee for his behaviour. In a press release, Cricket Australia stated that the 28-year-old has been given time to recover from a sore hamstring which had been troubling him right from the beginning of the series.
Steven Smith, meanwhile, will captain Australia after stand-in captain George Bailey was suspended for one match following a second slow over-rate breach within a span of one year. The 26-year-old Smith himself needs to be careful as he also fell foul of slow over rate during the recent Test series against India.
In the bowling department, Josh Hazlewood has been given a rest while Xavier Doherty, who was dropped for the game against India on Sunday, keeps his place in the 12-man squad.
Warner and Bailey have been replaced by Shaun Marsh and Cameron White. Marsh last played an ODI during Australia’s 4-1 home series win over England early last year while White’s last ODI game for Australia came way back in April 2011, against Bangladesh at Dhaka.
Smith’s appointment was straightforward: Rod Marsh
Explaining the decision, chief selector Rod Marsh said that it was a pretty simple decision to appoint Smith as captain after he led the side to a 2-0 Test series win over India.
“Steven's appointment was a straightforward decision given the excellent impression he made in charge of the side during the Test series when he stepped in for the injured Michael Clarke,” the former wicketkeeper-batsman said.
“It is unfortunate for George Bailey that he will miss the match in his home state but in Steven we have a dynamic player who leads from the front, by example, and we look forward to him doing so again on Friday," he added.
Australia’s squad for the fourth ODI: Aaron Finch, Shaun Marsh, Shane Watson, Steven Smith (capt), Cameron White, Glenn Maxwell, Brad Haddin (wk), James Faulkner, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Gurinder Sandhu, Xavier Doherty