Australia has decided to rest its prominent fast-bowling trio—Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, and Mitchell Starc—for the forthcoming white-ball series against England. The decision comes after the three veteran bowlers participated in all three Test matches during Australia's recent 2-1 series loss to South Africa.
Cummins and Hazlewood have been excluded from both the three-match One Day International (ODI) series, which is set to commence in Perth on November 13, and the five-match T20 International series beginning on November 21. Starc, aged 36, has already retired from the T20 format.
In their absence, 21-year-old fast bowler Mahli Beardman has been named in both squads and is a potential debutant in the ODI series. The uncapped pair of Sam Harper and Lachlan Shaw have been included in the T20 squad. Several players who featured in the South Africa series, including Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, and Matt Renshaw, are part of the ODI squad but will not be participating in the T20 fixtures.
While Cummins, 33, remains the formal ODI captain, he has played only one 50-over match since November 2024. Mitchell Marsh, his regular deputy and current T20 skipper, will assume captaincy duties for the ODI series. Seamer Nathan Ellis, a regular in white-ball formats, is selected for the T20 squad only, having sustained a side strain during the September ODI tour of South Africa and Zimbabwe. Fellow pacer Jack Edwards is included in both squads following his debut on that tour.
All-rounder Liam Scott, who played one ODI against Bangladesh in June, has been recalled to the ODI squad. Spinners Nikhil Chaudhary and Joel Davies, who each have one T20 appearance, are selected for the 20-over matches. Top-order batsmen Jake Fraser-McGurk and Mitchell Owen are recalled to the T20 squads, while Tim David is selected for the shorter format despite his recent return to 50-over domestic cricket.
The ODI and T20 squads will be captained by Mitchell Marsh and also feature Xavier Bartlett, Mahli Beardman, Jack Edwards, Spencer Johnson, and Adam Zampa.