Marnus Labuschagne Not Included In 23-Member Australia Squad For West Indies Tour; Here Is The Reason

Cricket Australia, on Tuesday announced an all-inclusive 23-member squad for the limited-overs tour of the West Indies. The eight-game tour for the Aaron Finch-led team will include five T20Is in St Lucia and three ODIs in Barbados.

The team will be captained by Aaron Finch and will feature the return of Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, David Warner, and Pat Cummins, who all missed the recent trip to New Zealand.

The whirlwind tour starts with the first of five Twenty20 internationals in St Lucia on July 9 and ends with the third of three one-day internationals in Barbados on July 24 as the teams prepare for the T20 World Cup in India later this year.

Here Is The Squad:

Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Moises Henriques, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Riley Meredith, Josh Philippe, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Tanveer Sangh, D’Arcy Short, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Andrew Tye, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa.

🇦🇺 Australia have announced a 23-member preliminary squad for their white-ball tour of the Caribbean, which begins from 10 July.#WIvAUS pic.twitter.com/grMk9wbWqt

— ICC (@ICC) May 17, 2021

No Marnus Labuschagne In The Squad

However, one big name that has been missed from the squad is that of Marnus Labuschagne. After showcasing his talent in the BBL 2021, everyone was expecting him to receive call -up from Cricket Australia. But it didn’t happen as we expected as he has not been included in the 23-member squad for the limited-overs tour of the West Indies.

Why Labuschagne Has Been Excluded From The Squad?

Not generally a part of the side’s white-ball team, Labuschagne may have received a callup after his spectacular few matches at the BBL 2021, however, with quarantine restrictions coming into play, it has been announced that he will stay over in England.

“Anyone who knows Marnus understands he would give absolutely anything to play for Australia and he is deeply upset to miss out due to circumstances beyond anyone’s control,” chief selector Trevor Hohns said.

“We worked through numerous options in conversations with Marnus to find a workable solution but ultimately came to the conclusion it was more practical for him to remain in the UK.

“Had we not been in the middle of a global pandemic Marnus would be on this tour … “

Australia cricket schedule 2021: West Indies vs Australia 2021

July 9: 1st T20I, Darren Sammy Cricket Ground, St Lucia
July 10: 2nd T20I, Darren Sammy Cricket Ground, St Lucia
July 12: 3rd T20I, Darren Sammy Cricket Ground, St Lucia
July 14: 4th T20I, Darren Sammy Cricket Ground, St Lucia
July 16: 5th T20I, Darren Sammy Cricket Ground, St Lucia
July 20: 1st ODI, Kensington Oval, Barbados
July 22: 2nd ODI, Kensington Oval, Barbados
July 24: 3rd ODI, Kensington Oval, Barbados