Champions Trophy: Australia, Bangladesh announce squads

Fast bowlers James Pattinson and John Hastings have recovered from their injuries to return to the Australian squad for the ICC Champions Trophy to be held in England next month.

"We have selected a very exciting, well-balanced squad that will give us plenty of options with both batting and bowling, depending on the conditions."

"We are in a very fortunate position at the moment with a large number of quality players available for selection, as such this was a very difficult team to choose and there have been some unlucky players on this occasion," national selector Trevor Hohns said in a statement.

Talking of the international return of Pattinson and Hastings, Hohns asserted that their experience of playing county cricket in England will help them adapt to the local conditions.

"Both James and John have made very good returns from injury and are bowling well for their respective teams in the English County competition as well as both contributing well with the bat," Hohns said.

Fast bowler Mitchell Starc and Chris Lynn have also been included in the 15-man squad as they make their return from injury.

However, all-rounder James Faulkner has been omitted from the side.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on Thursday recalled medium-pacer Shafiul Islam and left out Nurul Hasan, Subashis Roy and Shuvagata Hom from the 15-strong team for the ICC Champions Trophy, to be held in England and Wales in June.

This will be the first time Bangladesh are participating in the International Cricket Council (ICC) Champions Trophy in more than a decade. They last p0layed in the Champions' Trophy in 2006 under the captaincy of Habibul Bashar. The cut-off date for announcing squad is April 25 for the eighth edition of the eight-team tournament. South Africa and Australia have already announced their squads for the tournament, second in importance only to the showcase event World Cup.

Bashar, one of the ambassadors for this year's tournament, said qualification for the tournament was a big step forward.

"It is definitely a big step forward for our country to qualify directly to this year's Champion's Trophy, and it is really important for the team as well," Bashar was quoted as saying by an ICC statement.

"Now we have the opportunity to demonstrate how good our ODI skills are at the present time." The selectors also announced the team for a tri-series that Bangladesh will take part in, featuring Ireland and New Zealand, in Ireland, to prepare for the Champions Trophy.