Kane Richardson and Josh Philippe included in Australia's 26-member squad

Cricket Australia on Thursday named a 26-member squad for the potential white-ball series against England. 

The Australian selector, Trevor Hohns, highlighted the fact that it is important to nurture ebullient youngsters, as they will undoubtedly play a vital role for Australia in the longer run.

Joshua Philippe, a belligerent batsman who is not shy of taking on the bowlers from the word go, is part of the 26-member preliminary squad. The Western Australia batsman's scintillating show in the Big Bash League is a precursor to one promising career that gazes at us. 

“The preliminary list includes several exciting young players who have recently excelled at state level and in the Big Bash League. These emerging players are among those we would like to develop further as we believe they have a bright future in Australian cricket,” Hohns was quoted as saying.

Cricket Australia's head of national teams, Ben Olives, stated that they are working diligently in anticipation that the series would commence as planned. 

“The England Cricket Board are a long-standing and valued international cricket partner and we are doing all we can to give the tour the best possible chance of taking place.” 

Oliver believes that the recognition of the 26-member squad will enable them to work in tandem with the players and consequently evaluate them for the series against England. 

“In the meantime, the identification of a preliminary list will enable us to work with players and states more directly on the preparation for the tour in the hope it can proceed,” said Oliver. 

If the bilateral series commences as planned, Australia will play three ODIs and as many as T20Is against England within the bio-secure bubble. 

Australia preliminary squad: Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Aaron Finch, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Michael Neser, Josh Philippe, Daniel Sams, D’Arcy Short, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa.