Steve Smith's bid to play at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games has have taken a hit after he was left out of the Australian side for next month's T20 series in Bangladesh, but chief selector George Bailey insists it's "not the end of the road" for the great's dreams.
Smith, along with fellow ageing white ball stars Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis, were on Monday left out of next month's three-match tour of Bangladesh. The series follows three One Day Internationals in Pakistan and Bangladesh, with the nine matches played between May 30 and June 21.
Instead, Australia's selectors, led by Bailey, picked a youthful team under captain Mitch Marsh.
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In the first Australian team selected since the nation crashed out in the pool stages of this year's T20 World Cup, Bailey kept faith in rising star Cooper Connolly, while West Australian all-rounder Aaron Hardie also earned a recall.
Joel Davies, the left-arm spinner and dashing batter, also earned his maiden national call-up. It came after a breakout season in the Big Bash where he took the second most wickets by a spinner (14) behind batting all-rounder Connolly (15).
With regular quicks Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood all left out to ensure their fitness ahead of the home two-Test series against Bangladesh, Riley Meredith earned his first national call-up in two years. Spencer Johnson was also named in the 16-man squad.
But it was the decision to exclude Smith, as well as Maxwell and Stoinis, that raised eyebrows.
While the trio will play in next month's Major League Cricket competition in the United States of America, Bailey said that wasn't a factor in their non selection.
He added that the series represented the ideal time to usher through the next generation of players.
"It's not the end of the road," responded Bailey, after being asked to explain their axings.
"I wouldn't call it dropped per se, but I understand that they're not within the squad.
"Just given where we are in the cycle of T20s and on the back of our World Cup result, it's a good opportunity, I think, to have a look at some different players.
"I'm not taking away the fact that every time that we take a team or squad away, the expectation – and our expectation – is that we will win and those players will perform. So it's a really important period of time, I think, for that T20 group to actually start to develop some different players and different roles across that.
"But that's not to say that it won't be the last we've seen of those players."
While Smith's absence atracted attention, another two rising talents, Oliver Peake and Liam Scott, were called up for the first time after being named in the 50-over squad to face Pakistan.
Scott was also named in the ODI squad to face Bangladesh, with several regulars to return to the team after their commitments in the Indian Premier League wrap up at the end of May.
While some IPL stars, including Cameron Green, will be available for the entire subcontinent tour because their sides are set to miss the five-day finals series, others like Travis Head and Connolly will link up with the national team in Bangladesh.
Their late arrivals have given Peake, the 19-year-old young gun viewed as an Ashes bolter by Ricky Ponting for the 2027 series in England, an opportunity to be fast-tracked into the national squad.
The Victorian batter's inclusion comes after scoring consecutive centuries in this year's under-19s World Cup, which included a century during Australia's 27-run loss to England in the semi-final in Zimbabwe.
"To be perfectly honest, everything's impressive with Peakey for a young man of his age and what he's been able to do so far in his career," Bailey said.
"He's spent a little bit of time around the national team in Sri Lanka.
"He's performed well domestically.
"It's clearly an eye to the future with his selection, but he is someone not unlike Liam Scott – I know he's a little bit older – [who] every time that they get the opportunity to grow and stretch, they seem to take that on board really well.
"I think specifically for Peakey, there's obviously an ability there, but coupled with a really, really strong game sense and game awareness for someone of his age and experience."
Scott's call-up comes after a fine Australian summer, where the 25-year-old South Australian and Strikers batter was named Sheffield Shield Player of the Year.
It came after he hit 547 runs at 39 and took 28 wickets at 23. While he struggled in the One-Day Cup, Scott also finished in the top ten in runs scored in the Big Bash (310 runs at 51) and took five wickets at 19, with a more than acceptable economy of 7.89.
While Peake and Scott are just starting off their careers, Bailey also recalled 31-year-old Billy Stanlake, with the tall quick in-line to make his first international appearance since 2019.
Bailey said a recent net session had once again reminded selectors of his quality.
"He hasn't played for a long time, but he's always been someone whose skill set there's a lot to like about it," he said.
"He's got some attributes that are pretty unique.
"I think we had a camp last year, and I can't remember what it was in the lead up to, but it was the end of the season and Billy was continuing to bowl through that. He came up as a bit of a net bowler and I don't think it was much fun for our batters … it was fast, it was hostile, and it was nasty – and that's him at his best.
"It's just been about him trying to get a run at it and hopefully put some injury issues behind him. So I think that's exciting and full credit to him for persevering through the injury issues he's had and Tasmania for working out a really good programme and getting into the stage where he's available."
Australia squad for Pakistan ODIs: Mitchell Marsh (c), Alex Carey, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Riley Meredith, Oliver Peake, Matthew Renshaw, Tanveer Sangha, Liam Scott, Matt Short, Billy Stanlake, Adam Zampa
Australia squad for Bangladesh ODIs: Mitchell Marsh (c), Xavier Bartlett, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Matthew Renshaw, Tanveer Sangha, Liam Scott, Adam Zampa
Australia squad for Bangladesh T20Is: Mitchell Marsh (c), Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Tim David, Joel Davies, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Matthew Kuhnemann, Riley Meredith, Josh Philippe, Matthew Renshaw, Adam Zampa
Tour of Pakistan & Bangladesh 2026
May 30: First ODI, Rawalpindi Stadium, 9:30pm AEST
June 2: Second ODI, Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, 9:30pm AEST
June 4: Third ODI, Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, 9:30pm AEST
June 9: First ODI, Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka, 6pm AEST
June 11: Second ODI, Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka, 6pm AEST
June 14: Third ODI, Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka, 6pm AEST
June 17: First T20I, Bir Sreshtho Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman Stadium, Chattogram, 6pm AEST
June 19: Second T20I, Bir Sreshtho Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman Stadium, Chattogram, 6pm AEST
June 21: Third T20I, Bir Sreshtho Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman Stadium, Chattogram, 6pm AEST
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