Ever since the retirement of David Warner in January, Australia have struggled to sort out their top order conundrum, and had tried Steve Smith for sometime before opting for McSweeney in the lead-up to the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
The home association planned to celebrate the legacy of the flamboyant southpaw, who played 26 Tests for Australia, and has produced a special documentary on him in conjunction with the Hughes family that will be broadcast ahead of the Test match.
Cricket Australia (CA) have secured a seven-year deal ensuring that one of the biggest events on the cricketing calendar, the fabled Boxing Day Test will take place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground until at least 2027.
Reiterating its stance, Cricket Australia said that Australia will not play bilateral cricket with Afghanistan because of the Taliban government’s stance regarding the rights of women.
Stoinis is still contracted with CA until June 30 as CA’s contracts run across the financial year, which means he could technically feature in the T20 World Cup, starting June 1.
Cricket Australia, along with Melbourne Cricket Club (operators of the MCG) and the Victorian government had then suggested that it was ready to serve as a neutral venue should the Indian and Pakistan cricket boards agree to play a bilateral series on their soil.
The ACB’s strong reaction came after CA on Tuesday announced that Australia wouldn't be taking part in the three-match T20I series at a neutral venue because of "a marked deterioration in human rights for women and girls" in Afghanistan.
Wade, who was denied a CA contract earlier this year, will only get around AUD350,000 for the 12 T20Is he has played
Following Aaron Finch's retirement, the Australian team's captaincy position in One-Day Internationals (ODIs) is now open, and Warner is confident he can fill it.
The win couldn't rescue the series for Australia, but regained some pride, with the ODI series ending 3-2 in favour of Sri Lanka.
