Probables announced for A tour to Australia

A 29-member preliminary squad for Pakistan A's tour of Australia was announced on Thursday by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

Pakistan A skipper Hasan Raza, who was fined for indiscipline during the EurAsia Cricket Series in Abu Dhabi, heads the list.

A Test discard, Raza and three other players were fined by the PCB after they were caught by the UAE police while traveling in a speeding car during the EurAsia Series.

The Karachi batsman is expected to be retained as captain of the Pakistan A team for the tour of Australia starting in late June as he led the team to the title in the EurAsia Series in Abu Dhabi.

Pakistan are to play four-day, one-day and Twenty20 matches during the tour of Australia, with Australia, India and New Zealand also sending their A teams for the series to be played in Cairns and Darwin.

The national selection committee, headed by former Test cricketer Wasim Bari, has included several under-19 players in the preliminary squad. "We want to send some youngsters to Australia to give them some vital exposure," said Bari.

The players selected in the preliminary squad will attend a conditioning camp getting underway in Lahore from May 25. The final squad for the tour of Australia will be announced by June 11, said Bari.

Preliminary squad: Misbah-ul-Haq, Yasir Hameed, Hasan Raza, Rafatullah Mohmand, Mohammad Hafeez, Shahid Yousuf, Shahzad Malik, Fawad Alam, Naved Latif, Yasir Arafat, Mohammad Salman, Amin-ur-Rehman, Wasim Khan, Abdul Rehman, Tahir Khan, Mohammad Irshad, Asad Ali, Anwar Ali, Akhtar Ayub, Jamshed Ahmed, Najaf Shah, Asif Hussain, Mansoor Amjad, Mohammad Khalil, Rizwan Akbar, Samiullah Niazi, Saeed Anwar Jr, Imran Tahir and Naumanullah.