Australia Squad For Test Series vs Sri Lanka: Steve Smith Named Interim Captain; Youngster Earns Maiden Call Up

Star batter Steve Smith has been named interim captain as Australia announced their 16-member squad for the upcoming two-match Test series against Sri Lanka, scheduled to begin on January 29.

Having captained Australian in 2023 Test tour to India, Smith will once again lead the side in the absence of Pat Cummins, who is set to miss the two Tests as the captain is both on paternity leave and dealing with a slight ankle issue since the recent home summer.

Apart from Cummins, fellow pacer Josh Hazlewood, who picked up an injury during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, also misses out as he continues his rehabilitation with Australia picking Mitchell Starc, Scott Boland and Sean Abbott as their specialist quicks for the Sri Lanka tour.

All-rounder Beau Webster, who made his debut in the Sydney Test against India, has retained his place alongside young batter Sam Konstas, while there is a first Test squad call-up for former Australia U19 Cricket World Cup captain Cooper Connolly.

Nathan McSweeney has been recalled despite missing the Melbourne and Sydney Tests in the recent BGT Series. Smith, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne and Usman Khawaja make up the rest of the top order batters as all-rounder Mitchell Marsh misses out on selection.

Spinners Matt Kuhnemann and Todd Murphy also make a return for the tourists, joining veteran Nathan Lyon in the squad as speciallist spin bowlers. Alex Carey and Josh Inglis retain their spots as the wicketkeepers for the touring party.

The likes of Glenn Maxwell, Adam Zampa and Peter Handscomb, who were all thrown up as potential travellers for the tour, were not selected. Australian chair of selectors George Bailey says the unique challenges of playing in Sri Lanka give newer faces the opportunity to shine in red-ball action for their country.

"Sri Lanka is a challenging and exciting place to tour given the different conditions players may be presented with. This squad provides several ways to structure the XI depending on what type of wickets we may encounter in each match," George Bailey said as quoted by the ICC official website.

"We are excited about the opportunity ahead for the squad members who are at the start of their Test careers to continue to grow their games in subcontinent conditions where we have a number of important tours in coming years," former Australia skipper added.

Whilst the two matches form part of the World Test Championship 2023-2025 cycle, final spots are already taken, with Australia (63.73% of possible points) and South Africa (69.44% of possible points) unable to be moved from the top two spots.

The Australians will face South Africa from June 11 at Lord's in defence of the World Test Championship mace, with the Proteas closing out their spot thanks to a victory over Pakistan in late 2024. Here is a look at the schedule followed by Australia's squad for Sri Lanka tour:

Sri Lanka vs Australia 2025 Test Schedule

1st Test: January 29 to February 2 - Galle
2nd Test: February 6 to February 10 - Galle

Australia Squad for Test series vs Sri Lanka

Steve Smith (captain), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Travis Head (vice captain), Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Matt Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Nathan McSweeney, Todd Murphy, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster.