Scott Boland and Pat Cummins among six Test players ruled out of BBL season ahead of Sri Lanka tour

Cricket Australia have put six men’s Test stars on ice for the remainder of the home summer, meaning they will play no part in the BBL.

Scott Boland (Melbourne Stars), Pat Cummins (Sydney Thunder), Josh Hazlewood (Sydney Sixers), Travis Head (Adelaide Strikers), Nathan Lyon (Melbourne Renegades) and Mitchell Starc (Sydney Sixers) have all been ruled out as they prepare for the upcoming two-Test series in Sri Lanka, starting on January 29.

Remaining members of the squad for the fifth test in Sydney have been given varying levels of availability.

Sean Abbott (Sydney Sixers), Alex Carey (Adelaide Strikers), Sam Konstas (Sydney Thunder), Mitchell Marsh (Perth Scorchers), Jhye Richardson (Perth Scorchers) and Beau Webster (Melbourne Stars) have all been given the green light for the entre home and away season.

Steve Smith will be given until January 11 to rest, but can play three matches for the Sydney Sixers thereafter.

Brisbane Heat pair Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne have been made available for one match only, when the Heat host the Hobart Hurricanes on January 16 at the Gabba.

Hazlewood’s exclusion should come as no surprise, given the 33-year-old has played just 16 of Australia’s past 36 Test matches, owing to an assortment of side, Achilles and calf issues in recent years.

He missed the 2023 World Test Championship final and the first Test of the Ashes that year as he recovered from injury.

The veteran fast bowler played just two Tests this summer, and was Australia’s best bowler in Perth, but broke down again in Brisbane, picking up a new calf injury, which was unrelated to the side strain that ruled him out of the second Test in Adelaide.

Hazlewood is now racing the clock to be fit for Sri Lanka, though he may hardly be required anyway.

Australia will play both games of the two-match series in Galle, where spin-friendly conditions are both extreme and guaranteed.

Aussie skipper Pat Cummins is at this stage likely to miss the tour as he awaits the imminent birth of his second child.

That opens up a spot for a fast bowler, but Australia may only play one dedicated seamer on pitches that are expected to turn square.

In that scenario, the Aussies would play Nathan Lyon and two other spinners with one seamer and a fast-bowling allrounder.

It means Boland, Starc, Richardson, Abbott, and Hazlewood — if fit — could be fighting for one fast-bowling spot.

Alternatively, Australia could play two quicks and rely on some part-time spin from Travis Head, but they wouldn’t cut their spinning stocks any further than that.

Todd Murphy, Matt Kuhnemann, Adam Zampa or even Corey Rocchiccioli are the most likely to deputise Lyon in the slow-bowling department.

BBL batting sensation Cooper Connolly can bowl some part-time off-spin, but would appear at long odds to get the nod for the No.6 spot, unless Australia wanted to use the tour as a future development opportunity, given they are already assured of a spot in the World Test Championship final later this year, regardless of the result in Sri Lanka.

Forgotten Victorian Peter Handscomb was added to the Test squad for Sydney and is certain to be included in the Sri Lanka squad.

He is considered a good player of spin and could bat at No.5 if selectors decide to promote Travis Head up to the top of the order, as they did for the India tour in 2023.

Otherwise he could play at No.6, but that would restrict Australia’s bowling flexibility.

Webster remains in the box seat to play as Australia’s allrounder, with Cam Green still recovering from the stress fracture that sidelined him for the entire Border-Gavaskar Trophy.