Sydney: Australia’s selectors on Monday named a preliminary squad of 30 players for this year’s inaugural Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa.

The squad, which will be reduced to the final 15 in the middle of July, includes the bulk of player who helped Australia win the one-day World Cup in the West Indies as well as some of the country’s most promising youngsters.

“We believe we’ve picked a squad of 30 specifically for the game of Twenty20 cricket with a view to Australia becoming a force in this form of the game,” Australia’s chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch said in a statement.

The preliminary squad

Ricky Ponting (captain), Adam Gilchrist, George Bailey, Nathan Bracken, Luke Butterworth, Stuart Clark, Michael Clarke, Dan Cullen, Brendan Drew, Brad Haddin, Shane Harwood, Matthew Hayden, Ben Hilfenhaus, Brad Hodge, Brad Hogg, James Hopes, David Hussey, Mike Hussey, Phil Jaques, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Andrew McDonald, Ashley Noffke, Marcus North, Luke Ronchi, Andrew Symonds, Shaun Tait, Adam Voges, Shane Watson, Cameron White.

(REUTERS)