Australian squad for Adelaide Ashes Test announced, Daniel Vettori to miss lead-up for IPL Auction
A key member of Australia’s extended team will miss the lead-in to the Adelaide Test due to duties at the IPL auction. But, skipper Pat Cummins has been named to return.
Cameron Green is expected to fetch a small fortune at the Indian Premier League auction next week as a scheduling clash again forces Australian bowling coach Daniel Vettori to leave the Test camp mid-series.
Having missed the most recent iteration of the IPL because of the back injury that ruled him out of the 2024-25 Test series against India, Green is again up for grabs at this year’s mini-auction, set to be held next Tuesday in Abu Dhabi. That is the eve of the third Ashes Test at Adelaide Oval, for which Pat Cummins’ return was confirmed on Wednesday morning.
Three years ago, Green yielded 17.5 crore ($3.15m AUD) from the Mumbai Indians to become the most expensive Australian buy in tournament history. That figure was surpassed the following year by Cummins and Mitchell Starc, the latter returning to the IPL after an eight-year absence.
But the fact that this year’s auction is a mini one, rather than the roughly triennial mega auction at which most players are up for grabs, will boost demand for Green, who issued a reminder of his white-ball batting talent during the winter series against the West Indies and South Africa.
A bidding war for the West Australian could ensue, although Green’s salary for the upcoming season is set to be capped at 18 crore (approximate $3.01m AUD under the current exchange rate) as part of a maximum fee rule implemented to prevent players from registering exclusively at mini-auctions in a bid to ramp up their respective prices.
Former New Zealand captain Vettori, who has been Australia’s primary bowling coach during the Andrew McDonald era, will miss part of the Aussie preparation for the Adelaide Oval Test as he will be heading to the UAE for the auction in his guise as coach of Sunrisers Hyderabad, the club of Cummins and Travis Head.
Vettori’s former NZ teammate James Franklin, who has been a semi-regular member of the Australian coaching staff this year, will fill in for Vettori in the build-up to the Test, before Vettori returns to the Aussie camp following the auction. A similar arrangement was in place last year when Vettori headed to Saudi Arabia for the auction, meaning he missed part of Australia’s Test against India in Perth.
“Dan has flown over there, but he has been here for the whole prep. Done all the meetings, done all the chats, watching it. We came to know that anyway,” Cummins said the day before the start of the India series last year.
“So, for the players, I don’t think so. Most of these guys have been there in the auctions before. They know they can’t really do anything. You are a sitting duck and seeing whether you get selected or not. It doesn’t … doesn’t make a difference to how we go about the first two days. It is not a distraction as far as I can see it.”
Green is not the only member of the Australian Test XI who is available at the auction.
Steve Smith and Josh Inglis are both also up for grabs, albeit Inglis’ availability during the tournament is limited, part of the reason why he was not retained by Ricky Ponting’s Punjab Kings.
Jake Fraser-McGurk, who burst onto the scene at the IPL in 2024, is listed alongside Green in the first set of players to be put to market.
Spencer Johnson, Sean Abbott, Ben Dwarshuis, Daniel Sams, Matt Short and Ben McDermott, all of whom have been capped in white-ball cricket for Australia, are also available.
Glenn Maxwell announced last week that he would not enter this year’s auction, likely ending his 14-year association with the competition.
Cricket Australia formalised its 15-man Test squad for Adelaide on Wednesday, confirming Cummins’ return from injury as captain, as flagged by coach McDonald on Tuesday. He is the sole addition, with the same 14 other players from the first two Test squads remaining.
Jhye Richardson will meanwhile train with the Australian squad in Adelaide ahead of a potential Test return later in the series.
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