SYDNEY: Australia T20 wicket-keeper Tim Paine and paceman Gurinder Sandhu were named on Thurs­day in a Cricket Aus­tralia XI squad for tour matches against England this month.

Hobart-born 32-year-old Paine, who apart from representing Australia in 12 T20 Internationals has also played four Tests and 26 ODIs, will lead the squad.

Born in Blacktown, New South Wales, 24-year-old Sandhu has played two ODIs for Australia in 2015.

Paine and Sandhu are the only ones with international experience in the 12-man line-up.

The CA XI will face England in a four-day, day-night match at Adelaide Oval from Nov 8-11 and in Townsville from Nov 15-18 ahead of the Ashes series opener at the Gabba in Brisbane, starting on Nov 23.

CA high performance coach and former Test fast bowler Ryan Harris will coach the CA XI side for the Adelaide match, assisted by former Australian team-mate Chris Rogers.

Australia batting coach Graeme Hick will lead them in Townsville along with national performance programme head coach Troy Cooley.

“Tim Paine, as a player with international experience in all three formats of the game, will bring a lot of experience and leadership to the squad,” Cooley said.

“These guys have a really exciting opportunity in front of them to showcase their skills against a world-class England side.”

Squad:

Jake Carder, Jackson Coleman, Michael Cormack, Daniel Fallins, Ryan Gibson, Nick Larkin, Simon Milenko, Tim Paine, Will Pucovski, Gurinder Sandhu, Jason Sangha, Matthew Short.

Published in Dawn, November 3rd, 2017