Cameron White will fancy playing his first one-day international in three years after replacing the injured Chris Lynn in the Australia squad for the five-match series against England beginning on Sunday.
A calf injury to explosive batsman Lynn opened an unlikely door for 34-year-old White, who played the last of his 88 ODIs in 2015 and has since been critical of a pro-youth policy he felt did not reward the performance of senior players.
"Cameron's in very good form, as his figures demonstrate. He's playing very well," selector Trevor Hohns said in a statement on Thursday, referring to White's impressive displays for Melbourne Renegades in this year's Big Bash League.
"He's one of the leading run-scorers in this season's BBL, he's experienced, he's a very smart cricketer and he's a good fielder. He ticks all the boxes for what we need at this stage."
White's unexpected selection ahead of Glenn Maxwell follows Tim Paine's shock and inspired inclusion in Australia's Ashes-winning team despite the wicketkeeper not even being Tasmania's number one choice.
Melbourne hosts the first one-dayer between the Ashes rivals, before the series moves on to Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide and Perth.
England name Livingstone in squad for NZ tour
England named batsman Liam Livingstone in their squad for the two-Test tour of New Zealand starting in March.
The 24-year-old Livingstone has not played Test cricket but took part in two Twenty20 internationals against South Africa last year.
Fast bowler Mark Wood was also included after recovering from injury.
“Liam has been a player that we have been impressed with for quite some time, having performed well in the county system with Lancashire and over the past couple of years with the England Lions," National Selector James Whitaker said in an England and Wales Cricket Board statement on Wednesday.
“He is a very talented and tough cricketer who has the ideal qualities and character to be successful in the Test arena."
Wood, 27, was named in the squad for the first time since last year.
Batsman Gary Ballance, fast bowler Jake Ball and all-rounder Tom Curran, who were all in the squad for the Ashes series which England lost 4-0, were left out.
England squad: Joe Root (captain), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Alastair Cook, Mason Crane, Ben Foakes, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Ben Stokes, Mark Stoneman, James Vince, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood
ICC approves Perth Stadium to host all international formats
Perth Stadium is set to take over hosting duties from the historic WACA ground after the International Cricket Council (ICC) approved the newly-built venue to host all international formats, Cricket Australia (CA) said on Thursday.
The 50,000-seater stadium will now become the main venue for cricket in Western Australia, and the fifth one-day international between Australia and England on Jan. 28 will be the first major sporting event held at the ground.
"The stadium is a magnificent asset for the state of WA and its sports fan," said Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland. "We very much look forward to bringing this big Australia-England one-day match to Perth to the Stadium on 28 January."
The state-of-the-art stadium will also host matches from the domestic Big Bash League, Australian rules football and soccer.
ICC match referee Richie Richardson said the stadium was "world class" after an inspection.
"The new Perth Stadium is a wonderful, refreshing, world class stadium, and I have no hesitation in recommending that the venue is approved for staging all three formats of international cricket," he added.
The ODI between Australia and England will be the fifth and final match of the series, which begins on January 14. It follows the home side's dominant 4-0 Ashes Test series win.
The WACA, which has hosted cricket matches since the early 1890s, will be turned into a boutique ground with a capacity of 10,000-15,000 by the local board.
