Australia squad for Caribbean & England tours

Fawad Ahmed – legspinner named.
Fawad Ahmed – legspinner named.

The Australian cricket selectors have named a 17-man squad for their upcoming tours of the West Indies and England in June and July.

Fawad Ahmed, the 33-year-old Pakistan-born legspinner and experienced batsman Adam Voges have both been included in the squad while Peter Nevill has been confirmed as backup wicketkeeper to Brad Haddin ahead of Mathew Wade.

Ahmed appeared in three ODIs and two T20Is since his debut in 2013 while Voges has played in 31 ODIs and seven T20Is since his debut in 2007.

The Australians will play a three-day warmup match May 30-June 1 at Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua. The first Test is June 5-9 against the West Indies at Windsor Park, Roseau, Dominica, and the second and final Test is June 13-17 at Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica.

The visitors will then move to England for their five Ashes Test series against England which starts on July 8. The two teams will also be engaged in one T20I and five ODIs.

The Test squadP Michael Clarke (captain); Steven Smith (vice-captain); Fawad Ahmed; Brad Haddin; Josh Hazlewood; Ryan Harris (Ashes Only); Mitchell Johnson; Nathan Lyon; Mitchell  Marsh; Shawn Marsh; Peter Nevill; Chris Rogers; Peter Siddle; Mitchell Starc; Adam Voges; David Warner and Shane Watson.

In other news, former New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori has comfirmed his retirement from international cricket after playing his last game in the final of the World Cup against Australia.

The 36-year-old allrounder made his Test debut for New Zealand against England at Wellington in February 1997 at the tender age of 18 and became the youngest New Zealand player to achieve this feat.

He is also one of only three players to have managed the double of 4,000 Test runs and 300 Test wickets, along with Kapil Dev of India and Ian Botham of England.

Vettori has played in 113 Tests scoring 4,531 runs with six centuries at an average of 30.00 and has taken 363 wickets an average of 34.36. He made his ODI debut against Sri Lanka at Christchurch in March 1997 and has appeared in 295 ODIs scoring 2252 runs and has taken 305 wickets.

In the T20 format he has played in 34 T20Is and has taken 38 wickets.

He led New Zealand in 32 Tests and 82 ODIs.