The spin-bowling allrounder is not carrying an injury, and is expected to return for the ODI series
Alex Malcolm
Ashton Agar is heading home from the tour of India to play domestic cricket for Western Australia. No additions are being made to Australia’s Test squad ahead of the third Border-Gavaskar Test in Indore, starting March 1.
Australia are 2-0 down in the series, and Josh Hazlewood and David Warner have already gone back home with injuries. Unlike them, Agar will leave fully fit and available to play in WA’s next Sheffield Shield game on March 2 and the 50-over Marsh Cup final that WA will host on March 8.
Mitchell Swepson will fly back to India having gone home prior to the Delhi Test for the birth of his first child. Pat Cummins is also booked to return to India ahead of the third Test, having flown home for family reasons following the Delhi Test, but his situation remains fluid.
Australia have not added another batter to the squad to replace Warner as Cameron Green is set to be fit for the third Test.
Agar arrived in India with the Test squad as an incumbent in Australia’s XI having played as the second spinner alongside Nathan Lyon in their last home Test of the summer against South Africa in Sydney.
But he was not selected for the first Test in Nagpur, with offspinner Todd Murphy selected ahead of him to make his Test debut and partner Lyon alongside two fast bowlers. Then in the second Test in Delhi, Australia opted for three spinners but Agar was once again left out, with fellow left-arm orthodox Matthew Kuhnemann making his Test debut despite having not been part of the original squad and having only flown to India five days prior to the start of the Test match.
Australia’s selector on tour, Tony Dodemaide, took the unusual step of speaking to the Australian media prior to the toss on the first morning in Delhi to explain the selections. Dodemaide stated that Agar was not selected because “his red-ball bowling is not quite where he wants it to be”.
Dodemaide and Agar met at the team hotel yesterday and it was decided that Agar would head home. He remained likely to return to India in March with the ODI squad, where he is an important cog in Australia’s plans ahead of the World Cup in India later in the year.
More to follow…
Alex Malcolm is an Associate Editor at ESPNcricinfo
