New Delhi: Young spin-bowling all-rounder Cooper Connolly has replaced the injured Matthew Short in the Australian squad for the remainder of the ICC Champions Trophy matches. Short, a batting all-rounder was ruled out of the ICC tournament being held in Pakistan and Dubai, due to a calf injury sustained during the match against Afghanistan on Friday.
Connolly, 21, made his ODI debut in England last year. He was initially selected as a travelling reserve for the marquee tournament.
The left-arm will replace Short who injured his calf on Friday while fielding and appeared to be hampered by the injury during his quickfire 20 at the top of the order before the match was washed out due to rain in Lahore.
On Monday, the ICC’s Event Technical Committee approved his inclusion in the Australian squad.
Who is Cooper Connolly?
Born in 2003 in Perth, Cooper, a left-handed batter and a slow left-arm orthodox bowler, plays for Western Australia in interstate cricket and Perth Scorchers in the Big Bash League (BBL).
He led the Western Australia Under-17 team and later was handed the responsibility of captaining the Australia Under-19 team for the 2022 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup.
Connolly made his T20I debut against Scotland last September before making his 50-over format debut against England later that month. Connolly got his maiden Test cap in February 2025 after he was named in the playing X1 in the second Test against Sri Lanka.
Overall, he has featured in six internationals for Australia, of which three have been ODIs. He’s a left-handed batter, who bowls left-arm spin as well.
Australia will face India in the first semifinal of the Champions Trophy in Dubai on Tuesday following the Men In Blue’s win over New Zealand by 44 runs.
Australia squad: Steve Smith (c), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Aaron Hardie, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Adam Zampa.
Cooper Connolly: The left-arm spin-bowling all-rounder will replace Matthew Short who injured his calf on Friday while fielding during Australia’s last league match with Afghanistan. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
