Western Australian batsman Adam Voges and Queensland all-rounder Andrew Symonds have been included in the Australian squad for the third Ashes Test against England at the WACA Ground following Damien Martyn's sudden retirement.
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On Friday morning selectors had been set to name their 13-man squad for the game that gets underway next Thursday in Perth, but Martyn's decision to quit the game with immediate effect forced them to reconvene.
As a result National Selection Panel chairman Andrew Hilditch says selectors have opted for Voges and Symonds in place of Martyn and South Australian fast bowler Shaun Tait.
"The retirement of Damien Martyn has given the NSP an opportunity to look at some of the fantastic young players who are emerging in Australia at the present time," Hilditch said.
"This was not an easy decision as there are many players pushing for selection which augers well for the future of Australian cricket."
Voges has enjoyed a fine start to the summer with the Warriors, scoring two centuries and 320 runs at an average of 160 in his three matches, and also holds the record for the fastest century in the history of the domestic one-day competition.
"We are excited to give Adam this opportunity to join the squad," Hilditch added of Voges, who reached three figures from just 62 balls against New South Wales at North Sydney Oval two summers ago.
"He is an outstanding young player who performed exceptionally well at the Commonwealth Bank Centre of Excellence and since his time at the CBCE he has had a fantastic start to the domestic season. His inclusion in the squad is a just reward for his efforts to date."
The 13th man will be released from the squad on Wednesday, but no decision will be made on the final make-up of the XI to take on England until the morning of the game, with the 12th man to then be released for state duties.
"There is some uncertainty as to the conditions we will face at the WACA and we will wait until after we have assessed these before naming a final eleven shortly before the commencement of the game on Thursday," Hilditch added.
Symonds was stunned when told of his inclusion but is hoping to now be included in the final XI.
"I was flabbergasted when I got the call," Symonds said. "I thought I was a million-to-one to play this series, especially when they went for Pup (Michael Clarke) when Watto (Shane watson) was ruled out."
"I dug out my baggy green the other day when I was moving some stuff around and wondered if I would ever put it on my head again. That's still up in the air but I'm obviously a fair bit closer to that moment than I thought I was."
"I think my bowling during the Bulls win in Perth in the Pura Cup the other day would have helped my cause. I was really happy with my control with the off-spinners and generally how I bowled."
All-rounder Shane Watson was again unable to be considered because of the hamstring strain that he suffered playing for the Bulls three weeks ago.
"Shane Watson continues to recover from his hamstring strain but our advice from medical staff was that he would not be fully recovered by the start of the Test, therefore we will allow him to have a full recovery and we expect that he will be fully fit and available for selection ahead of the fourth Ashes Test in Melbourne," Hilditch said.
Australian squad for the third Test
Ricky Ponting (c), Adam Gilchrist (v-c), Michael Clarke, Stuart Clark, Matthew Hayden, Michael Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Justin Langer, Brett Lee, Glenn McGrath, Andrew Symonds, Adam Voges, Shane Warne
