Australia A honours for WA quintet

Five WA stars - Cameron Bancroft, Matt Kelly, Joel Paris, Josh Philippe and Ashton Turner - have been selected for the multi-format tour, which begins on Monday 28 August with a red ball match at Allan Border Field in Brisbane.

They will play under the familiar tutelage of WA and Perth Scorchers mentor Adam Voges, who was unveiled as Australia A Head Coach last week. 

Bancroft, Kelly, Paris and Philippe are available for the four-day leg, having featured prominently during WA's triumphant 2021-22 and 2022-23 Marsh Sheffield Shield campaigns. 

Philippe will then join State One-Day Cup vice-captain Turner for white ball games on 10, 13 and 15 September. 

While primarily focused on Australia A's fortunes, Voges is excited by the opportunity afforded to the WA players involved. 

"I'm really pleased for them all to get an opportunity," he said, speaking to reporters at the WACA Ground this morning. 

"They'll play a game each, and it's nice preparation for them leading into our domestic summer, as well."

Bancroft is viewed as one of the frontrunners to replace incumbent Test opening batter David Warner when his international career ends. 

The hard-edged right-hander led the Marsh Sheffield Shield for runs scored, notching up 945 runs from 20 innings to eclipse his nearest rival, South Australian Daniel Drew, by 289 runs.

“I think Cameron’s form, particularly last season in Shield cricket, leading run-scorer and by a fair bit — particularly here at the WACA Ground we played on some tricky wickets at times — so he thoroughly deserves the opportunity he’s going to get,” Voges said.

Reliable swing bowler Matt Kelly, meanwhile, enjoyed a career-best Shield campaign, taking 35 wickets at 15.77 from eight matches.

Of those selected on the tour, Kelly is the only WA representative without experience playing for Australia or Australia A.

"Matt had a breakout season last year," Voges said.

"He was our leading wicket-taker in Shield cricket and played in all three finals for us (Marsh Sheffield Shield, Marsh One-Day Cup, KFC Big Bash League). He's shown his versatility and durability."

Left-arm swing bowler Paris boasts the lowest bowling average (21.20) of any player to have taken more than 100 Sheffield Shield wickets for WA.

Philippe was named Cricket Australia's 2022-23 Marsh One-Day Cup Player of the Series, plundering 438 runs at 62.57 atop the order.

And hard-hitting middle-order batter Turner captained WA to successive ODC titles in 2021-22 and 2022-23, after winning BBL|11 and BBL|12 championships as Perth Scorchers' skipper.

National Selection Panel Chair of Selectors George Bailey said both Australia A squads were picked to reward strong performances in domestic cricket, while casting one eye to the future.

“The squad contains some players who have put up some excellent state cricket performances, along with several emerging players we believe have exciting futures in international cricket," Bailey said.

“With seven Tests this summer (including two in New Zealand in February and March 2024), this is an important time to continue to build depth through our red ball squads. It is equally exciting to expose some of our best developing talent to international opposition in one-day cricket as we enter a new World Cup cycle.

“Ollie Davies, Todd Murphy and Will Sutherland are three young players who have impressed us in limited overs cricket for their states, and we are excited to see what they can produce throughout this series.

“We are committed to expanding the Australia A program and having seen seven players go on to represent Australia after excelling in Australia A matches over the past two years gives us great confidence.

“As the series is played early in the summer before the Australian domestic season starts, we expect to rotate through both the four-day and one-day squads to ensure they are best prepared for the season ahead.

“The squad is looking forward to playing at the newly developed Great Barrier Reef Arena in Mackay in a pink ball four-day match and one-day match, as well as utilising the excellent facilities at Allan Border Field in Brisbane.”

AUSTRALIA A V NEW ZEALAND A FIXTURES  
Monday 28 - Thursday 31 August, 2023, Allan Border Field 
Monday 4 - Thursday 7 September, 2023 (D/N), Great Barrier Reef Arena 
Sunday, 10 September 2023, Great Barrier Reef Arena 
Wednesday, 13 September 2023 (D/N), Allan Border Field 
Friday, 15 September 2023, Allan Border Field

FOUR-DAY SQUAD:
Wes Agar (SA - Northern Districts Cricket Club)
Cameron Bancroft (WA - Willetton Premier Cricket Club)
Jordan Buckingham (SA - West Torrens Cricket Club)
Ben Dwarshuis (NSW - Sutherland District Cricket Club)
Caleb Jewell (TAS - North Hobart Cricket Club)
Campbell Kellaway (VIC - Melbourne Cricket Club)
Matthew Kelly (WA - Claremont Nedlands Cricket Club)
Matthew Kuhnemann (QLD - Gold Coast District Cricket Club)
Nathan McAndrew (SA - Woodville District Cricket Club)
Nathan McSweeney (SA - Glenelg Cricket Club)
Joel Paris (WA - Claremont-Nedlands Cricket Club)
Jimmy Peirson (QLD - Redlands CC)
Mitch Perry (VIC - Richmond Cricket Club)
Josh Philippe (WA - Scarborough Cricket Club)
Mark Steketee (QLD - Valley District Cricket Club) 
Mitchell Swepson (QLD - Sandgate-Redcliffe Cricket Club)
Tim Ward (TAS - University of Tasmania Cricket Club)

ONE-DAY SQUAD:
Wes Agar (SA - Northern Districts Cricket Club)
Ollie Davies (NSW - Manly Warringah District Cricket Club)
Ben Dwarshuis (NSW - Sutherland District Cricket Club)
Liam Hatcher (NSW - Fairfield-Liverpool Cricket Club)
Matthew Kuhnemann (QLD - Gold Coast District Cricket Club)
Marnus Labuschagne (QLD - Redlands Cricket Club)
Ben McDermott (QLD - Gold Coast District Cricket Club)
Todd Murphy (VIC - St Kilda Cricket Club)
Josh Philippe (WA - Scarborough Cricket Club)
Matthew Renshaw (QLD - Toombul District Cricket Club)
Gurinder Sandhu (QLD - South Brisbane Cricket Club)
Matt Short (VIC - Northcote Cricket Club)
Mark Steketee (QLD - Valley District Cricket Club)
Will Sutherland (VIC - Prahran Cricket Club)
Ashton Turner (WA - Fremantle District Cricket Club)