Mark Waugh forecasts changes in Australia's Test squad for New Zealand series

Melbourne, October 5 - National selector Mark Waugh has forecast multiple changes to Australia's Test squad for the upcoming Test series against New Zealand.

The 15-man squad named last month for the tour of Bangladesh was one of the most inexperienced in recent memory, with selectors forced to cover for the retirements of five players during the Ashes as well as the absence of pacers Mitchell Johnson and Josh Hazlewood (both rested) and David Warner (injured), reported cricket.com.au on Monday.

The uncapped duo of Cameron Bancroft and Andrew Fekete were among 10 players who had played 10 Tests or less in the squad for the two-Test series that was postponed last week due to security concerns.

But being named in the squad for a now postponed tour may be as close as some of those players will get to the Test side, at least in the short term, with Waugh forecasting several changes for the three-match series against the Black Caps, starting at the Gabba on November 5.

"The squad from Bangladesh, it's going to look different for New Zealand. There is no doubt about it, because you didn't have Warner, Hazlewood and Johnson (in the Bangladesh squad), so there's three players straight away you'd imagine would come back into the reckoning for the first Test,” Waugh said.

"And with different conditions, you're not going to have two spinners at the Gabba in the first Test. There's going to be some guys picked for that tour who are probably going to get shuffled back down the order a little bit, but you can't do anything about it.

"At least their names are there, they got picked for an Australian tour, they can take comfort from the fact they're definitely in the reckoning. But the reality is it will be a different 12 for the first Test in Brisbane to what would have been picked in Bangladesh," he added.

(IANS)