ADELAIDE // Australia selectors will give skipper Ricky Ponting a rest and troubled all-rounder Andrew Symonds a reprieve after announcing the 14-man squad for the upcoming limited-overs series against Pakistan today. The injured paceman Brett Lee has also been granted a chance to push for a place in the Twenty20 World Cup and the Ashes series in England, providing he can prove his fitness. Chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch said he agreed with a recommendation from team medical and coaching staff to give Ponting, bowling spearhead Mitchell Johnson and top-order batsman Mike Hussey a break after almost non-stop cricket since September.
Hilditch also wanted Symonds, Lee and often-injured all-rounder Shane Watson to have a chance to push for selection, based on prior form for Australia and not recent performances. The squad will be led by Michael Clarke in five limited-overs internationals and one Twenty20 International against Pakistan in Dubai and Abu Dhabi later this month. Australia had declined to tour Pakistan even before the attack on the Sri Lankan Test team last month in Lahore that injured seven members of the touring party and left six police men and a driver dead.
Symonds' form in domestic cricket and his recent absences from the Australian line-up for both disciplinary and injury reasons made him a selection risk, despite being one of the best exponents of limited-overs international cricket since his surprise selection for the 2003 World Cup. "We think after everything he's done for Australian cricket, one of our all-time best one-day players, that he deserves this opportunity, but it will be up to him now to seize that chance," Hilditch said.
