Jon Holland replaces injured Ashton Agar in the Test squad

Australian all-rounder Ashton Agar has been ruled out of the second Test against Sri Lanka in Galle. Jon Holland will replace him in the squad.

Cricket Australia (CA) on Saturday confirmed that Agar will not be available for selection for the second and final Test of the series against Sri Lanka as he continues to recover from the side strain. The medical staff suggested that Agar will not be able to be a match fit for next week's second Test. 

Holland has been officially added to the 17-player Test squad and although he's also nursing from an injury, he'll be available for selection for the final Test of the series.

"Victorian left-arm finger spinner Jon Holland has been added to Australia's squad for next week's second Test after the West Australian failed to recover from a side injury," said in a statement from Cricket Australia.

Holland was not a part of the Test squad for the ongoing tour against Sri Lanka, and he was not even a part of the Australia-A squad, but now he has been called in as the replacement of Ashton Agar.

The now 35-year-old Victorian made his Test debut in 2016 in Galle when he replaced an injured Stephen O'Keefe.

In his short Test career so far, Holland has played four Tests for Australia, where he has scalped nine wickets. In first-class cricket, Holland has scalped 286 wickets in 88 games at an average of 32.82, courtesy of eleven 5-wicket hauls. 

If selected in the side for the second Test of the two-match Test series, it would end a four-year absence from the Australian Test team for Holland, who last featured against Pakistan in the UAE in 2018.

Earlier head coach Andrew McDonald hinted that considering the effectiveness of finger spin in Sri Lanka, Holland might get a look, but Mitchell Swepson was given the nod ahead of the veteran spinner.

"He's always been there and thereabouts, purely through his domestic performances," Andrew McDonald said earlier this week of Holland.

"He got called in late. Was he a little underdone when he got into the A series? There's no doubt about that. But we feel as though he can bowl his way into the form we potentially need," added McDonald.