Fawad Ahmed will fly home from England, his Ashes dream on hold, while Steve Smith joins the Test squad and teen spinner Ashton Agar stays on as a development player.
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Chairman of selectors John Inverarity insisted the decision to send Ahmed home to complete his citizenship requirements rather than keep him with the squad was not an indication that Agar, 19, had edged ahead of him in the spin ranks, despite the Pakistan leg spinner enduring a difficult initiation with Australia A.
Ahmed bowled into a strong breeze in Bristol and finished with match figures of 1-100 from 31.2 overs. While he created several chances and generated significant spin, the highlight of his match was a screamer of a catch off the bowling of Agar, plucked out of the air with one hand at full stretch.
"I've said all along if we added a player to the squad it was likely to be a spinner. Because of the (David) Warner and (Michael) Clarke situation we have added a batsman. But we still have that option to add a spinner. Nothing has changed in that regard. Fawad is going home tomorrow and the procedure for him to become a citizen will continue, and then the intention is for him to go to South Africa (with Australia A), as it is for Ashton," Inverarity said.
"Ashton being 19 years of age it's an ideal development opportunity so he will stay with the squad until he goes to South Africa. If we decide to have another spinner it will be one of those two. Ashton staying on as a development player is no indication whatsoever that he is now ahead of Ahmed."
Agar, the loose-limbed left-arm spinner, eclipsed Ahmed in difficult conditions for spinners with a tour record of six wickets at 16.5 compared with Ahmed's two wickets at 82.5.
"My overall impression was that the conditions were terrible for spin bowling," Inverarity said. "It was cold and with a gusty breeze, very difficult conditions for him (Ahmed) both in Ireland and here. He is a very good bowler. If we were to call on him he has broken the ice with the players, he gets along very well with them. He is a lovely man."
Nathan Lyon shored up his position as No.1 spinner with a strong performance for Australia A. Though Ahmed could yet be called up later in the series - Old Trafford and the Oval, venues for the third and fifth Tests, are considered most conducive to spin - Agar will initially have the significant advantage of being with the squad if a second spinner is needed.
Both Smith, who has been on standby since Clarke's back injury flared, and Agar will stay with the squad until the start of the second Test, when they depart for South Africa. Smith, who will captain Australia A on that tour, was the best-performed batsman other than Clarke on the disastrous tour of India and unlucky to miss the Ashes squad when it was announced in April.
Australia is short a batsman until the first Test because of the suspension of Warner, although it has been made clear the troubled opener is still in contention to play at Trent Bridge.
"His preparation will be anything but ideal," said Inverarity. "Even though Michael Clarke, his back is improving and we fully expect him to play (in the tour match) at Taunton. There is that little bit of uncertainty about his back. So it could be that if Michael's back went again we'd be short of a batsman. It was obvious we needed to bring another batsman in."
