Melbourne, Aug 11 - Cricket Australia (CA) Tuesday dropped Michel Hussey, Peter Siddle and Nathan Bracken from the Twenty20 side and selected young wicket-keeper Tim Paine in the one-day squad for the eight ODIs and two Twenty20s in England from Aug 28.
National selection panel chairman Andrew Hilditch said the Twenty20 squad was picked keeping in mind the World Twenty20 in the West Indies in May.
'Ricky Ponting is having his workload managed and will return home to Australia after the fifth Test at The Oval and will miss the ODI against Scotland, the two Twenty20s and the start of the of the ODI series against England,' Hilditch said.
'This is the last opportunity we have to give Ricky a break until next year, with the ICC Champions Trophy, ODIs against India and of course a full domestic summer against the West Indies and Pakistan to finish 2009. The plan for him to return to Australia before rejoining the team is considered the most appropriate course of action,' he added.
Hilditch said that it would be a wonderful opportunity for Michael Clarke to captain in the two Twenty20s and one ODI against Scotland.
'Notable omissions from the Twenty20 squad are Mike Hussey, Peter Siddle and Nathan Bracken. The selection panel is using the two matches against England to look at different make-ups to the squad and include players who we consider Twenty20 specialists in preparation for the ICC World Twenty20 next year,' he said.
Hilditch went on to add that Hussey and Bracken are talented players in one-day and Twenty20 cricket but the selection panel wants to look at different players to improve Twenty20 performances.