Cricket Australia on Monday, May 17 announced their preliminary squad for their upcoming white ball tour against West Indies, with a few familiar names returning to the team. Amongst those are Jhye Richardson, Riley Meredith and Moises Henriques- the three Aussies who represented Punjab Kings in the 2021 VIVO Indian Premier League.

Many other big names like Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, David Warner and Pat Cummins made a return to the squad having been rested by selectors for the games against New Zealand prior to IPL 2021. Moises Henriques and Alex Carey were also recalled to this preliminary squad.

"This preliminary list gives selectors a solid base from which to choose a final touring party in the coming weeks while allowing players to prepare," said Trevor Horns, the national selector of Australia.

"The West Indies men's team has won two of the six ICC T20 World Cups played, including the most recent tournament in India and 2016, and this series will provide us with excellent preparation ahead of the 2021 edition in October and November," he added.

Australia are set to play five T20 Internationals and three ODIs against West Indies in St.Lucia and Barbados in late June. These games will be good preparation for upcoming Aussie bowlers like Jhye Richardson and Riley Meredith, both of whom retained their places in the national squad off the back of strong performances in IPL 2021 with Punjab Kings.

Richardson played three games for Punjab Kings in IPL 2021, and was instrumental in the team’s narrow win over Rajasthan Royals in their first game of the tournament. Meredith on the other hand played five games for Punjab Kings this season, with his performance against Royal Challengers Bangalore helping the team over the line.

Preliminary squad: Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Moises Henriques, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Riley Meredith, Josh Philippe, Kane Richardson, Jhye Richardson, Tanveer Sangha, D'Arcy Short, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Andrew Tye, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa.