A "deeply upset" Marnus Labuschagne will miss Australia's white-ball tour of the West Indies in July, after it was decided it was too difficult for him to travel from the United Kingdom.
And another young gun, all-rounder Cameron Green, is a surprise omission, despite playing in Australia's most recent one-day international.
Selectors have named 23 players in a preliminary squad for the series, from which a final touring party will be picked in the coming weeks.
The tour, which comprises five T20s and three ODIs, is a key lead-up to the T20 World Cup, scheduled for October.
Labuschagne is currently playing for Glamorgon in the English county competition.
"Anyone who knows Marnus understands he would give absolutely anything to play for Australia and he is deeply upset to miss out due to circumstances beyond anyone's control," national selector Trevor Hohns said.
"We worked through numerous options in conversations with Marnus to find a workable solution but ultimately came to the conclusion it was more practical for him to remain in the UK.
"Had we not been in the middle of a global pandemic Marnus would be on this tour as a well-established member and important part of the one-day side. It's an unfortunate circumstance of the many challenges the world is facing right now.
"As it stands, Marnus has the opportunity to continue in county cricket and T20 games with Glamorgan as we head into the World Cup and home summer."
Green is another who won't be making the trip, having made his ODI debut against India in December. There was confusion immediately after the squad was named about the reason Green was left out. While a spokesman for Cricket Australia said it was because the focus was on the T20 format, which Green is yet to debut in at international level, a report by Cricket Australia's own website, cricket.com.au, indicated the young West Australian was keen to stay home to prepare for the red ball season, headlined by a home Ashes series in the summer.
Three leg-spinners are included in the 23 – Adam Zampa, Mitchell Swepson and Tanveer Sangha, who toured New Zealand earlier this year without playing a match. The trio joins left-arm spinner Ashton Agar in the squad.
"Mitch Swepson has been in exceptional form across all three forms of the game. His Big Bash performances with the Heat have been superb, as was his bowling for Queensland," Hohns said.
"Tanveer Sanga was extremely impressive for the Thunder and we regard him very highly. While he didn't play in New Zealand it was a great opportunity for a young bowler to be around the group.
"Along with the class of Adam and Ashton we are very fortunate to have four highly capable spinners on this list."
Along with Swepson, a further seven players return after skipping the New Zealand tour.
Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, David Warner, Moises Henriques, Alex Carey and Pat Cummins have all been included, having missed the Trans-Tasman series after being named in the squad for the tour of South Africa, which was cancelled due to biosecurity concerns.
Daniel Sams, who made his T20 debut for Australia last summer, was unavailable for the tour on health and wellbeing grounds.
Australia's 23-man preliminary squad for West Indies tour:
Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Moises Henriques, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Riley Meredith, Josh Philippe, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Tanveer Sangha, D'Arcy Short, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Andrew Tye, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa.
Schedule:
July 10 9.30am AEST: First T20I, Darren Sammy Cricket Ground, St Lucia
July 11 9.30am AEST: Second T20I, Darren Sammy Cricket Ground, St Lucia
July 13 9.30am AEST: Third T20I, Darren Sammy Cricket Ground, St Lucia
July 15 9.30am AEST: Fourth T20I, Darren Sammy Cricket Ground, St Lucia
July 17 9.30am AEST: Fifth T20I, Darren Sammy Cricket Ground, St Lucia
July 21 4.30am AEST: First ODI, Kensington Oval, Barbados
July 23 4.30am AEST: Second ODI, Kensington Oval, Barbados
July 25 4.30am AEST: Third ODI, Kensington Oval, Barbados
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