Jackson Bird replaces injured James Pattinson for Bangladesh tour

Melbourne [Australia], Aug. 5 (ANI): Fast bowler Jackson Bird has been called in the 14-man Australian Test squad as a replacement for injured James Pattinson for the tour to Bangladesh, beginning August 27 at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka. Earlier, the 27-year-old was ruled out of the two-match Test series against Bangladesh with inflammation in his back. Pattinson's injury is the second blow for Australia's pace attack in less than a day, with Mitchell Starc also ruled out of the tour after failing to recover fully from a long-term foot injury, ESPNcricinfo reported. Leg-spinner Mitchell Swepson has replaced Starc in the Australian Test squad. Bird, who made his last Test appearance during the Boxing day match against Pakistan at the MCG last December, was also part of Australia's squad on their tour of India in February-March, but he did not get a chance to play. Australia are slated to play a two-day warm-up game in Fatullah on August 22 and 23 before heading into the first Test. It should be noted that tour got its green signal following the resolution of the contracts dispute between Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers' Association. Squad: Steven Smith (capt), David Warner (vice-capt), Ashton Agar, Hilton Cartwright, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Matthew Wade (wk), Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Matt Renshaw, Mitchell Swepson, Jackson Bird.(ANI)