Last Updated on 4 years by Charbel Coorey

3 players who were unlucky to miss the Australian squad for West Indies | A look at 3 players who were unlucky to miss the T20I and ODI squad for West Indies tour

Cricket Australia on Tuesday named an extended 23-man squad for the T20I and ODI tour of the West Indies, to take place in July. The Australians’ first assignment since the five-match tour of New Zealand in March will be another five T20Is against the Windies, followed by three ODIs.

The T20Is will serve as further preparation for the T20 World Cup to be held either in India or UAE, as Australia look to win the trophy for the first time. In the squad were three leg-spinners, as well as a number of top order players that rendered some middle order players unlucky to miss out on selection.

In this article, we’ll focus on three players who were unlucky to miss selection to the Australian squad for West Indies.

Squad: Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Moises Henriques, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Riley Meredith, Josh Philippe, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Tanveer Sangha, D’Arcy Short, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Andrew Tye, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa

Ben McDermott

Australia’s T20I side is crying out for specialist middle order players. Someone who can negotiate a top order collapse or keep the momentum going throughout the middle and death overs. So, leaving someone like Ben McDermott out of the squad was an opportunity missed.

McDermott, who often bats in the middle order for Hobart Hurricanes – arguably the toughest batting positions in T20 cricket – enjoyed an excellent BBL 10 campaign (12 inns, 402 runs, avg. 36.54, SR 139.58). Sure, many of his big scores came up the order, but McDermott possesses plenty of T20 experience at numbers four and five, and would potentially offer more value than the tried-and-tested D’Arcy Short.

38 of McDermott’s 68 career T20 knocks have come at either numbers four or five. In these positions, he possesses an overall record of 926 runs at an average of 33.07 and strike rate of 127. In fact, in his 10 knocks at number five, McDermott strikes at nearly 140. He could have a good foil for the likes of Maxwell in the middle, given the experience he holds.

Josh Inglis

Josh Inglis, the nuggety keeper-batsman from Western Australia, is another player Australia could have opted for on this tour. Sure, Australia has an embarrassment of riches at the top of the order, which is where Inglis typically bats in T20s, but he too has shown fine form down the order in white-ball cricket.

In BBL 10, Inglis batted at four in nine of his 16 innings for Perth Scorchers. In these matches, he struck scores of 44* (31), 72* (41), 58 (35) and 69* (41). Later in the season, he smashed 91 off 57 balls batting at five in a one day game against Victoria, which was part of his excellent finish to the campaign across white and red-ball cricket.

Inglis’ ability to shift gears and manipulate the field can be a great asset for Australia in the lower batting positions. Inglis is an asset Australia should look to use, and this tour may have been a fine opportunity to do just that.

Nathan Ellis

Death bowling is an area of concern for Australia. It is a surprise that Nathan Ellis wasn’t given a chance in New Zealand, and now here for the West Indies. Instead, Australia have opted to persist with the likes of Kane Richardson to deliver the goods.

Ellis has been outstanding in the death overs in BBL cricket. His ability to nail yorkers has caught the eye of pundits and fans alike. His economy rate of 8.31 in BBL 10 is completely acceptable given how often he bowls at the death, and his career economy rate is even lower at 8.17. A series such as this against the power-hitters of the West Indies could have been a great opportunity to give Ellis a taste of international cricket and see what he is made of.

Marnus Labuschagne will remain in the UK for the County Championship. Cameron Green has specified that he would like to work more on his bowling back home. This 23-man Australia squad will be trimmed to 18, so it will be interesting to see who gets the final nod.