Squads for the VB Series and Australia A matches

Australian Cricket Board (ACB) Chief Executive Officer James Sutherland today announced that the National Selection Panel (NSP) has chosen the following squads for the opening VB Series matches against England and Australia A's one-day matches

Australian Cricket Board

02-Dec-2002

The Australian squad to face England in the VB Series matches on 13 December in Sydney and 15 December in Melbourne is:

Name	State	AGE
Ricky Ponting (captain)	TAS	27
Adam Gilchrist (vice-captain)	WA	30
Michael Bevan	NSW	32
Andrew Bichel	QLD	32
Jason Gillespie	SA	27
Matthew Hayden	QLD	30
Brett Lee	NSW	25
Darren Lehmann	SA	32
Damien Martyn	WA	31
Glenn McGrath	NSW	32
Shane Warne	VIC	33
Shane Watson	TAS	21

The Australia A squad for its matches against an England XI on 8 December in Sydney and the Sri Lankans on 14 December in Brisbane is:

Name	State	AGE
Justin Langer (captain)	WA	31
Jimmy Maher (vice-captain)	QLD	28
Greg Blewett	SA	31
Nathan Bracken	NSW	25
Stuart Clark	NSW	27
Michael Clarke	NSW	21
Ryan Campbell	WA	30
Nathan Hauritz	QLD	21
Brad Hogg	WA	31
Michael Hussey	WA	27
Ashley Noffke	QLD	25
Andrew Symonds	QLD	27
Brad Williams	WA	27

Commenting on the squads, NSP Chairman Trevor Hohns said: "We have only picked 12 players in the VB Series squad because there is a week-long gap between our second and third matches and that gap gives us the opportunity to re-assess our options as the series moves forward," Hohns said.

"We will be looking for players selected in the Australia A squad to press for senior Australian representation in both the VB Series and the final World Cup touring party that has to be chosen by the end of December."

This summer's VB Series begins with a day-night match between Australia and England at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday 13 December.

The VB Series, this summer contested by Australia, England and Sri Lanka, involves 12 qualifying matches with each team playing the other two sides four times each.

Following the qualifying matches the top two sides will then contest a best-of-three finals series with matches in Sydney (Thursday 23 January), Melbourne (Saturday 25 December) and, if required, Adelaide (Monday 27 January).