Ponting rested for T20, ODIs in England

Brisbane:

Skipper Ricky Ponting will be rested for Australia's two Twenty20 internationals and the start of the limited-overs series in England in the wake of the five-Test Ashes series.

Chief selector Andrew Hilditch unveiled the squads for the T20 and ODI section of the tour on Tuesday, announcing that Ponting would return to Australia for a while following the Test series against England.

"Ricky Ponting is having his workload managed ... and will miss the ODI against Scotland, the two Twenty20s and the start of the of the ODI series against England," Hilditch said in a statement. "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."

Australia will play Scotland on Aug. 28 in a limited-overs international at Edinburgh before two T20s against England at Old Trafford. The seven-match ODI series against England starts Sept. 4 at The Oval.

Mike Hussey, Nathan Bracken and Peter Siddle will also be missing from the T20 squad, but are in the ODI lineup.

Hilditch said after the Ashes _ which is locked at 1-1 with one match remaining at the Oval _ the main aim for the three-time defending World Cup champions was to prepare for the Champions Trophy in the 50-overs game and identify players who can specialize in the T20 arena.

"With respect to the one-day side, we have picked a team that we believe can do well against England, but with a view to preparing for the ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa which follows directly after the series," he said. "The one new face is Tim Paine. Tim performed outstandingly in the recent Australia A series and we thought it was necessary to have a second wicketkeeper on tour.

"Tim has been picked not only because he is an excellent wicketkeeper but because he has opened the batting in this form of the game with great success, which gives us good versatility if Brad Haddin misses any of the ODIs."

Haddin missed the third Test against England last month after sustaining a suspected broken finger in the warmup for the match at Edgbaston. He was replaced by Graham Manou for that match but returned to the lineup for Australia's innings victory at Leeds in the fourth Test.

Victorian paceman Dirk Nannes, who played for Netherlands at the recent T20 world championships in England, was called into the Australian team for the Twenty20 internationals against England.

"We are using the two matches against England to look at different make ups to the squad and include players who we consider T20 specialists in preparation for the ICC World T20 next year," he said. "We are keen to look at different players ... and in this instance we have selected Dirk Nannes following his strong domestic performances in recent seasons to have a look at him in the Australian set up."

Australian squads:

ODI: Ricky Ponting (captain), Michael Clarke (vice-captain), Nathan Bracken, Callum Ferguson, Brad Haddin, Nathan Hauritz, Ben Hilfenhaus, James Hopes, Michael Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Tim Paine (subject to fitness), Peter Siddle, Shane Watson, Cameron White.

Australian Twenty20 squad: Michael Clarke (captain), Brad Haddin (vice-captain), Callum Ferguson, Nathan Hauritz, Ben Hilfenhaus, David Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Dirk Nannes, Adam Voges, David Warner, Shane Watson, Cameron White.