Australia adds 6 new faces to preliminary squad for white-ball tour of West Indies & Bangladesh

Cricket Australia added six more names, including Dan Christian, to the preliminary squad for the limited-overs tour of the West Indies and Bangladesh. Cameron Green, Ashton Turner, Wes Agar, Nathan Ellis and Ben McDermott are the other five new players included on the list.

Australia earlier named a 23-man preliminary squad in May for the West Indies tour, where they will play 5 T20Is and 3 ODIs. The same squad is set to tour Bangladesh, and Australia have now added six players to the group.

National selector Trevor Hohns said:

"We are delighted to recall Ben, Dan, Cameron and Ashton and welcome Wes and Nathan onto the preliminary list of players for the scheduled Qantas Australian men's tours of the West Indies and Bangladesh."

The National Selection Panel has added Ben McDermott, Dan Christian, Cameron Green, Ashton Turner, Wes Agar and Nathan Ellis to the preliminary list of players for the Qantas Australian men’s white ball tours of the West Indies and Bangladesh.MORE | https://t.co/b01CBo9bSH pic.twitter.com/ZcLkI31tcF

— Cricket Australia (@CricketAus) June 8, 2021

Cricket Australia revealed that six new names have been added after discussions keeping the mental health of the players in mind.

"The six additions to the Qantas Australian men's squad follow discussions with players selected in the initial preliminary list for the tours of the West Indies and Bangladesh. During the course of those discussions, it has become clear that recent experiences abroad, including but not limited to extended periods in bio-secure hubs and hard quarantine, have had an impact on the health and wellbeing of some players and their families," a statement released by CA said.

Dan Christian last played for Australia in 2017

Great couple of weeks in Dubai prepping for the @iplt20 for @RCBTweets Thanks to Qasim Ali, our net bowlers, and the team at the @ICCAcademy for looking after @cuttsy_31 @lynny_50 and myself. See you tomorrow, India!#playbold #wearechallengers #ipl2021 pic.twitter.com/rOIeE4kq3h

— Dan Christian (@danchristian54) March 24, 2021

38-year-old Dan Christian last played for Australia in 2017 in a T20I game against India. Christian has been rewarded for his consistent performances in the Big Bash, where he played a major part in the 2020-21 BBL season, guiding the Sydney Sixers to back-to-back titles.

The veteran all-rounder was also rewarded with a contract in the IPL 2021, where he played for the Royal Challengers Bangalore before the tournament was suspended indefinitely.

Dan Christian was supposed to be part of the 2021 T20 Blast for Nottinghamshire. But the all-rounder will now return from the UK this week to start his quarantine ahead of the final squad's departure to the West Indies. Australia will leave for the Caribbean island in late June, where they will play five T20Is in St Lucia and three ODIs in Barbados.