SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia have made a number of tweaks to their Twenty20 squad for the upcoming five-match series against India, including recalls for Glenn Maxwell and Ben Dwarshuis, to allow test contenders to play in the Sheffield Shield before the Ashes.
Test certainty Josh Hazlewood will skip the last three games of the series while fellow fast bowler Sean Abbott, who is among the contenders to fill the spot left open by the likely absence of Pat Cumminsfor the Ashes opener, will miss the last two.
All-rounder Maxwell, who has been sidelined by a wrist injury, will come in for the last three games while left-arm paceman Dwarshuis will be available for the last two after being ruled out of the ODI series against India with a calf problem.
Uncapped quick Mahli Beardman will also join the squad for the last three games of a series that begins in Canberra next Wednesday before further matches in Melbourne, Hobart, Gold Coast and Brisbane.
In other changes, wicketkeeper Josh Philippe joins the squad as continued cover for Josh Inglis, who is still struggling with the calf problem that ruled him out of the ODI series.
Australia took an unassailable 2-0 lead in that series with a victory by two wickets in Adelaide on Thursday.
Marnus Labuschagne, a contender for the Australian top order in the Ashes series, was released from the ODI squad on Friday to allow him to play red-ball cricket in the Sheffield Shield.
Uncapped all-rounder Jack Edwards and spinner Matt Kuhnemann will join the one-day squad for the final match in the series in Sydney on Saturday.
The battle for the Ashes begins with the first test in Perth from November 21.
T20 squad: Mitchell Marsh (captain), Sean Abbott (games 1-3), Xavier Bartlett, Tim David, Ben Dwarshuis (games 4-5), Nathan Ellis, Josh Hazlewood (games 1-2), Mahli Beardman (games 3-5), Travis Head, Josh Philippe, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Mitchell Owen, Matt Short, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa.
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Peter Rutherford)
