CURRENT Southern Districts batsman Alex Ross has been included in Australia A's squad for their upcoming series against South Africa A.
Ross will be joined by Waratah junior and former PINT quick Kane Richardson in the 24-man squad. 
Australia A play South Africa A in two unofficial Tests, in Brisbane and Townsville, in early   August.
A similar series in 2014 included India A in Darwin.
The teams will be joined by another international squad and Cricket Australia's National Performance Squad in a quadrangular 50-over series with matches in Townsville and Mackay.
Another two unofficial Tests will be played against the yet-to-be-confirmed international side in Brisbane in   September.
Richardson played 25 Darwin premier grade matches for PINT, while Ross is in the midst of his second stint with the Crocodiles at Fred's Pass.
Ross will play two more games for the club before returning to South Australia. "The squad's experience is bolstered with the inclusion of Ashton Agar, Marcus Stoinis, Moises Henriques, Scott Boland and Kane Richardson, all of whom have played either Test or one-day cricket for Australia," national selector Rod Marsh said.
The quad series will be another chance for Richardson to stake his claim for national selection, having already impressed for Australia in two ODI series against India and New Zealand earlier in the year before injury cut his summer short.
Meanwhile, former Waratah batsman Ben Abbatangelo has been included in the Victorian Futures League Academy winter squad.
Abbatangelo, who plays his club cricket at Northcote, previously played at Gardens Oval and is a regular in Central Australia as Victorian skipper at the National Indigenous Cricket Championships.
"We were very pleased with the first year of the program and the quality of players that came out of it is a testament to that," Victorian Chairman of Selectors Andrew Lynch said."To have seven players offered contracts this year serves as great motivation for this season's academy squad."