The 20-year-old joins fellow Hobartians Eddie Ockenden and Josh Beltz in the Kookaburras team for the upcoming Darwin International Hockey Open and two Tests against Argentina.

Ockenden’s fellow Commonwealth Games champion Jeremy Edwards missed out on the squad but remains on coach Colin Batch’s radar as the Australians prepare to defend the World Cup title in India in November.

Welch is set to make his Australian debut having been called up, along with Queenslander Jacob Anderson, from outside of Hockey Australia’s national senior men's squad.

“Every selection has its challenges and this one is no exception,” Batch said.

“We’ve had a number of injuries with our strikers so we’ve had to look beyond the national senior men’s squad and we’ve selected Jacob and Jack from our national development squad.

“Both played recently in the national under-21 championships and also in the Australia A series in Malaysia. They performed well and their selections are based on their performances at those two events.

“They happened to be in good form when this selection opportunity came along and we’re excited for them to make their debuts.”

The world No.1 Kookaburras will compete against Argentina (ranked second), Malaysia (12th) and Japan (16th) from September 18-22 at Marrara Hockey Centre followed by matches against Rio Olympic gold medallist Argentina.