Cricket Australia (CA) has released a 16-player squad on Thursday, January 9, for Australia's tour of Sri Lanka. The Island Nation is to be toured by Australia for two test matches and one ODI. The test series will help Australia prepare for the ICC World Test Championship 2023-25 final against South Africa, which they are scheduled to play at the Lord's in June. Regular skipper Pat Cummins is out due to birth of his second child. Steve Smith has been named captain for the two-match test series, for which Travis Head has been named deputy. Western Australia all-rounder Cooper Connolly has been included in the squad for his impressive performance in local matches. Nathan McSweeney, who was not available for the last two tests against India, has also been added to the team for the tour. Also Read | Watch: Suryakumar Yadav and Wife Devisha Visit Shirdi for Sai Baba's Blessings Australia will have to play two tests against Sri Lanka at Galle Stadium on 29th January and 6th February and play South Africa at the Lord's in London, in the World Test Championship Final on 11th June. The team has also seen the return of the spinners Matt Kuhnemann and Todd Murphy who were part of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2023 in India. Despite much talk about them, Glenn Maxwell, Peter Handscomb, and Matthew Renshaw have been omitted from the list. Steven Smith Pushes for Connolly's Inclusion Ahead of Sri Lanka Tests Steven Smith spoke to coach Andrew McDonald and selector Tony Dodemaide immediately after the Sydney Test and pitched for Connolly's inclusion, given that Pat Cummins will be absent on paternity leave when the Tests open in Sri Lanka. Here is what Steven Smith said "I was quite big on someone like Cooper coming in to be able to spin the ball away," Smith said. "You watch India play in India and they have Axar [Patel] and [Ravindra] Jadeja, if one of their spinners gets tired or nothing's happening they can turn to another spinner. I like the fit, just having a couple of spinners going each way. It matches up really nicely." Australia's Squad for Sri Lanka tour Steve Smith (c), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Travis Head (vc), Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Matt Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Nathan McSweeney, Todd Murphy, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster.