Australia coach Justin Langer has declared that Dan Christian (all-rounder) would return after a 4-year break on Saturday for the beginning of the T20 series against the West Indies. Australia and West Indies will battle in a five-match T20 series. Dan Christian Set to Play for Australia after 4-years
WI vs Aus T20I series: Dan Christian set to play for Australia after 4-year hiatus, confirms coach Justin Langer
“He’s finally worn me down, ‘Christo’,” the 38-year-old, who last played for Australia in 2017, was termed by Justin Langer.
Christian has messaged Langer regularly in recent years in the hopes of being considered for a national recall as he produced a 9-year domestic T20 career.
“I’ve been in the (head coach) job three years and every time he gets some runs in any game or competition around the world, he texts me and says ‘Coach I’m ready to go, pick me, I’m the best allrounder in Australia’.
“He’s a fantastic bloke, he’s got an amazing set of hands in the field (and) he’s clever with the ball. His experience and we’ve seen throughout the Big Bash and all around the world actually, he hits the ball as clean as anyone,” said Langer.
According to Langer, Mitch Marsh has been elevated to the first drop, while Josh Philippe will bat in the middle order with Christian.
“Mitch Marsh is going to bat three. We see him as a bit of an enforcer up there, he faces fast bowling as well as anyone around the place. He hits the ball with brutal power and we’re looking forward to giving him a chance at the top of the order,” said the Australian coach.
Australia Will Pick Only Four Specialist Bowlers: Langer
Before this year’s T20 World Cup in the UAE, Langer says the Australian camp is searching for new methods to win games.
“The six batsmen and five specialist bowlers – it’s certainly a model I’ve gone with throughout my whole head coaching career, there’s no surprise to anyone with that. And it’s been a very successful model,” said Langer.
“But if you look ahead We might look at this 7-4 model, where you have a couple of all-rounders. Different teams do it differently around the world”.
“Looking ahead also to the World Cup, if we look at where it’s being played – the UAE – there’s going to be an enormous amount of traffic on those wickets, with the IPL, the PSL that has already been – we’re going to play on some pretty worn wickets, especially towards the back end of the World Cup,” he added.
Squad
Australia: Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Wes Agar, Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey, Dan Christian, Josh Hazlewood, Moises Henriques, Mitchell Marsh, Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Josh Philippe, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa. (Reserves): Nathan Ellis, Tanveer Sangha.
West Indies: Kieron Pollard (c), Nicholas Pooran (vc), Fabian Allen, Dwayne Bravo, Sheldon Cottrell, Fidel Edwards, Andre Fletcher, Chris Gayle, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Evin Lewis, Obed McCoy, Andre Russell, Lendl Simmons, Kevin Sinclair, Oshane Thomas, Hayden Walsh (Jr)
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