Australia recall Joe Burns and Usman Khawaja against New Zealand

Melbourne, October  30 - Australia have recalled Queensland pair Joe Burns and Usman Khawaja for the first two Tests of the three match series against New Zealand, beginning on November 5 at Brisbane.

Burns, who played two Tests against India in the last Australian summer, was chosen at the expense of Western Australian pair Shaun Marsh and Cameron Bancroft.

Khawaja has not played a Test since August, 2013, while Burns’ last Test innings was in January against India at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

"We will need to play at our best to beat a very talented New Zealand side, but we think this squad has the goods to do it and also provides an opportunity for some exciting younger players to make their mark in the Test arena," national selector Rod Marsh was quoted as saying by Cricket Australia on Friday.

"Usman is a very good player of fast-bowling and is a fine technician; we feel he will make a really solid contribution towards our batting this series. Joe thoroughly deserves his chance and was unlucky to miss out on the West Indies and Ashes tours off the back of two decent performances in his last Test match for Australia in Sydney."

“He also put in terrific performances during the recent Australia A Series in India.”

The Australian squad: Steve Smith (captain), David Warner (vice-captain), Joe Burns, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Peter Nevill, Mitchell Starc, Peter Siddle, Adam Voges.

(IANS)