Sydney, Aug 24: Veteran skipper Steve Waugh and twin brother Mark were retained in a 14-man Australian Test squad for the upcoming series against Pakistan.
The venue for the series has not been confirmed, although it will be played at a neutral location because the Australian Cricket Board will not send a touring team to Pakistan for safety reasons. The squad, announced Saturday, also included 20-year-old test rookie Nathan Hauritz, an off-spinner who has represented Australia in limited-overs internationals.


Stuart MacGill was dropped from the squad that toured South Africa, with chairman of selectors Trevor Hohn saying his panel had opted for an off-spinner to partner Shane Warne rather than take two leg-spinners.


Hauritz "inclusion will also give us some added variety in the spin bowling department by having a player that can offer us quality spells of off-spin," he said.


Hauritz, who is part of the limited-overs squad departing Monday for the tour of Kenya and the ICC Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka, said touring with the test team "will be a fantastic opportunity for me and it has come so soon after the selectors put me in the mix for the one-day team." Steve Waugh, 37, hasn't been included in Australia's limited-overs squad in recent series and earlier this month embarked on a short stint with English county club Kent in a bid to prepare himself for the upcoming Ashes series against England.

Australian squad: Steven Waugh (captain), Adam Gilchrist (vice-captain), Andrew Bichel, Jason Gillespie, Nathan Hauritz, Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Brett Lee, Darren Lehmann, Damien Martyn, Glenn McGrath, Ricky Ponting, Shane Warne, Mark Waugh. Bureau Report