MELBOURNE: Australia coach Justin Langer said on Monday there is potential for Steve Smith and David Warner to feature in the One-day International series against Pakistan in the UAE just days after their ball-tampering suspensions are served.
A five-match ODI series to be hosted by Pakistan has long been mooted for March next year as teams look to fine-tune for next years World Cup in England. It had been penciled in between March 15 and 29, but new reports suggest Pakistan has proposed hosting Australia from March 31 to April 13.
The year-long suspensions of Smith and Warner expire on March 29. If those dates are confirmed, it could see the banned duo return to the Australian team within 48 hours of their suspension lifting and the five matches could be valuable for Langer to refine the reintegration of the players ahead of the World Cup.
Theres potential for that, but thats part of the process (to work through to reintegrate the banned players), Langer told reporters. There are lots of conversations going on about whats best for our bowlers, for the guys returning, and well work through that.
Well get the best outcome for Australian cricket and for them personally, but there have been no decisions made at this stage, he added.
