SYDNEY, April 21: Fast-medium bowler Glenn McGrath has been recalled to Australia's Test and one-day team for their tour of Zimbabwe that begins next month.
Australia's selectors also named all-rounder Cameron White in the Test squad for the first time after leg-spinner Stuart MacGill made himself unavailable on moral grounds.
McGrath has not played for Australia in almost a year because of an ankle injury but has proved his fitness. "Glenn's 100 percent fit and ready to go so it's sensible that he returns to the squad given his prior status as the premier fast bowler in the world," chairman of selectors Trevor Hohns said in a statement.
"With the short nature of the tour, it's a good opportunity for Glenn to ease his way back into competitive cricket and it gives us an opportunity to assess how well he is going in a view to the next 12 months and what lies ahead for the Australian cricket team."
MacGill's decision not to tour prompted the selectors to name White as the back-up to Shane Warne. "We were keen to take two spinners to Zimbabwe and given Stuart's unavailability for the tour, we now have an opportunity to look at one of our younger spinners," Hohns said.
"His form in the (domestic competition) with both bat and ball was very good and we're looking forward to seeing him take the next step on the international stage." ll-rounder Andrew Symonds was dropped from the Test side just weeks after he made his debut in Sri Lanka but kept his place in the one-day squad.
Test squad:
Ricky Ponting (captain), Adam Gilchrist (vice-captain), Jason Gillespie, Matthew Hayden, Simon Katich, Michael Kasprowicz, Damien Martyn, Glenn McGrath, Justin Langer, Darren Lehmann, Shane Warne, Cameron White, Brad Williams.
One-day squad:
Ponting, Gilchrist, Michael Clarke, Gillespie, Brad Hogg, Ian Harvey, Hayden, Kasprowicz, Martyn, McGrath, Lehmann, Andrew Symonds, Shane Watson, Williams. -Reuters
