Former Renegades seamer Cameron Stevenson named in USA squad for T20 World Cup Qualifiers

Former Melbourne Renegades fast bowler Cameron Stevenson has been included in USA's T20I squad for the first time. This is one of several changes to the group headed to Zimbabwe next month for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup Qualifier B tournament, from July 10 to 17.

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Stevenson has played 12 ODIs for the USA, including five during the recent tour of Texas, since making his List A debut for the national team in the CWI Super50 tournament at Trinidad in November 2019. However, he has not played a T20 match since suiting up for the Renegades on New Year's Day 2017, when he took the wicket of Kevin Pietersen at the MCG in a seven-run win over Melbourne Stars.

Stevenson effectively takes a spot made available by the absence of Ian Holland, who was the USA's standout player at the ICC Americas T20 World Cup Qualifier in Antigua last November when his team-leading 10 wickets in six matches propelled the USA to a first-place finish and a spot in Zimbabwe. But Holland is unavailable to tour Zimbabwe due to his County cricket commitments at Hampshire.

The trickle-down effect of the Covid-effected T20I series against Ireland in December has also had an impact on USA's squad for Zimbabwe. Sushant Modani and Yasir Mohammad have retained their spots in USA's T20I squad after impressing as last-minute replacements against Ireland when four players - including Steven Taylor and vice-captain Aaron Jones - were ruled out in December due to Covid.

USA T20I squad for the T20 World Cup Qualifiers :

Monank Patel (C & wk)
Aaron Jones (vice-captain)
Marty Kain
Ali Khan
Jaskaran Malhotra
Sushant Modani
Yasir Mohammad
Saurabh Netravalkar
Nisarg Patel, Gajanand Singh
Cameron Stevenson
Steven Taylor
Rusty Theron
Vatsal Vaghela

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USA's squad leaves later this month to begin their preparation for the T20 World Cup Qualifier. They will play four T20 matches in Namibia - two each against Namibia and Jersey - before moving on to Zimbabwe. In Zimbabwe, they will play two more warmup matches against the Netherlands on July 6 and 7.

USA has been placed in Group A of the Qualifier to be staged in Bulawayo where they will face Jersey, Singapore, and Zimbabwe. The top two teams in each four-team group will advance to the semi-finals where the two winners will advance to the T20 World Cup in Australia this October. Hong Kong, Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, and Uganda are in Group B.