Travis Head to miss start of Sri Lanka T20I series to play Sheffield Shield
Travis Head will miss the start of the T20I series against Sri Lanka in order to play a Sheffield Shield match for South Australia ahead of the Pakistan tour.
Daniel Sams, the New South Wales and Sydney Thunder allrounder, has been added to Australia's squad for the five-match series which begins at the SCG on Friday.
Head, who played his previous T20I in 2018, was one of the players recalled to face Sri Lanka but it has been decided there is value in him having a first-class game before the Pakistan contests next month following his player-of-the-series returns in the Ashes. He will rejoin the T20 squad in Melbourne.
Sams was a travelling reserve for the T20 World Cup last year. He has previously played four T20Is and had a good BBL with Thunder where he was their leading wicket-taker with 19 at 24.57 and also hammered an astonishing 98 off 44 balls against Melbourne Renegades.
Confirmation of the remaining men's domestic fixtures opened up the chance for some Test players to get a game for their states with South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland in action from Wednesday.
Head will now join South Australia team-mate Alex Carey in being able to face Victoria who will have Marcus Harris and Scott Boland in their side. Harris is expected to earn a place on the Pakistan tour after being dropped for the final Ashes Test to accommodate Usman Khawaja.
Steven Smith is part of the T20I squad to face Sri Lanka along with with Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood but Nathan Lyon is expected to play for New South Wales against Queensland.
Queensland are most bolstered by international availability with Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Michael Neser and Mitchell Swepson all available.
Western Australia will not be in Sheffield Shield action until next month due to border restrictions meaning Cameron Green and Mitchell Marsh - the latter who was rested from the Sri Lanka T20Is - won't have any cricket before the Pakistan tour. It has already been confirmed that Jhye Richardson, who is part of the T20I squad, won't take part in the Pakistan trip.