The 28-year-old, who has nine Test wickets at 31.11, was brought in to be around Australia’s squad during the fifth Test against India in Sydney, alongside Murphy and veteran batter Peter Handscomb, who was not selected for the tour.
McSweeney has been preferred to subcontinent specialist Handscomb, having played three Tests against India before being dropped for Sam Konstas.
Australia’s squad for the two-Test tour of Sri Lanka
Steve Smith (captain), Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan McSweeney, Cooper Connolly, Beau Webster, Alex Carey, Sean Abbott, Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy, Matthew Kuhnemann, Mitchell Starc, Scott Boland, Josh Inglis.
“Sri Lanka is a challenging and exciting place to tour given the different conditions the players may experience,” selection chairman George Bailey said.
“This squad provides several ways to structure the XI depending on what type of wickets they may encounter in each match”.
With Beau Webster retaining his spot following a stellar debut in the Sydney Test, there is no room for Maxwell or Marsh, who was dropped for the final Test of the Border-Gavaskar series.
Given Cameron Green is also due to return from injury ahead of Australia’s winter Test commitments against South Africa in the World Test Championship final and touring the West Indies, former Australian opener Aaron Finch believes Marsh might have played his last Test.
“I think it’ll be really difficult for Mitch to get back into the side now,” Finch said on ESPN’s Around the Wicket show. “There is not a huge amount of cricket left in this summer to force a case, with Cameron Green coming back in early March. For me, it’ll be unlikely [he ever plays again].”
Green posted a video to social media on Wednesday of him jogging around the WACA after recovering from back surgery, which ruled him out for the summer and the upcoming Sri Lanka tour.
As revealed earlier this week, Josh Hazlewood won’t be part of the two Sri Lanka Tests, with Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland Australia’s first-choice quicks. Uncapped New South Wales veteran Sean Abbott, who was part of Australia’s extended Boxing Day Test squad, will also tour as a back-up seamer.
Meanwhile, the International Cricket Committee has rated the SCG pitch “satisfactory” after former Australia captain Michael Clarke said it was the worst he had seen in Sydney.
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Cricket Australia announced on Wednesday that the ICC had given the Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane and Melbourne pitches “very good” ratings.
Despite the fifth Test against India wrapping up inside three days, the SCG pitch was given the second-highest rating of “satisfactory”.
Venues receive demerit points for “unsatisfactory” or “unfit” ratings.
“We don’t look to prepare wickets that favour the home side or suit our situation in a series,” said Peter Roach, CA’s head of cricket operations and scheduling. “What we seek is a good contest between bat and ball, and pitches that are likely to produce a result.”
Days after Australian opener Usman Khawaja labelled the SCG pitch a “stinker”, Clarke was more scathing.
“I hate saying this out loud – that’s the worst pitch I’ve ever seen in Sydney,” Clarke said on ESPN’s Around the Wicket show. “I didn’t think it was a good cricket wicket.
“Australia wins, so I’m not complaining, but if we went to India and played and they produced a wicket like that – in regards to a raging turner and the game was over in two and a half days – I think all Australian cricket fans would be kicking up a stink.
“These wickets in general throughout the whole summer were really tough for batting and great for fast bowling. Sydney was extreme.”
