Cricket Squads Feel the Winds of Change

The squads for Australia's short-form games against Pakistan in the U.A.E. have been named, and some changes have been made after th ethrashing that took place in England

One-Day Internationals
Michael Clarke (c) (NSW)
David Warner (vc) (NSW)
George Bailey (TAS)
Dan Christian (SA)
Xavier Doherty (TAS)
Callum Ferguson (SA)
David Hussey (VIC)
Michael Hussey (WA
Mitchell Johnson (WA)
Glenn Maxwell (VIC)
Clint McKay (VIC)
James Pattinson (VIC)
Steven Smith (NSW)
Mitchell Starc (NSW)
Matthew Wade (VIC) 

After a 4-0 whitewash in England it was obvious that changes had to be made.

All three injured players from the England tour - Pat Cummins, Shane Watson and the newly retired Brett Lee have been omitted. Peter Forrest's international career is now on an indefinite hiatus after his failure in English conditions, while Ben Hilfenhaus has also been relieved of ODI duties.

Returning to the side are Mitchell Starc and Dan Christian, both of whom arguably should have been in the squad from the beginning. In the long run they will have been happy to have missed the carnage of the previous tour, and can now cement themselves in as permanent fixtures of the ODI team. Michael Hussey also returns to the team after sitting out the English tour for family reasons. He was sorely missed in those matches. Callum Ferguson, who finished 4th in aggregate in the domestic Ryobi Cup in 2011/12 has earned a recall as well, and given the dearth of candidates has a great opportunity to cement himself in the team for some time. Also added for the first time is Victorian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell. On ability he looks like he could be a terrific asset, he just needs to transform that ability into results.

T20 Internationals

George Bailey (c) (TAS)

Shane Watson (vc) (NSW)

Dan Christian (SA)

Pat Cummins (NSW)

Xavier Doherty (TAS)

Ben Hilfenhaus (TAS)

Brad Hogg (WA)

David Hussey (VIC)

Michael Hussey (WA)

Glenn Maxwell (VIC)

Clint McKay (VIC)

Mitchell Starc (NSW)

Matthew Wade (VIC)

David Warner (NSW)

Cameron White (VIC)

Probably the biggest surprise of this squad is the recalling of former skipper Cameron White on the basis of no form whatsoever from the previous Australian summer. However, some recent good form with the bat for Northamptonshire in the English domestic T20 competition, and the real lack of any batting power in the current Australian middle order, has elevated him to a position where he could possibly resurrect his international career in time for the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka. Brad Hogg continues his revival after three years of retirement, which is probably a sign of the new world of T20 cricket. It is hard to see whether this squad can pull together to be a chance of winning the upcoming World T20 Championship - but also it is hard to care too much.