With a busy schedule of T20 internationals and ODIs continuing through March, a small gap in short-format cricket during the month of February gives the chance for Australian representatives to return to their state shield teams and prove their worth.
On top on this list of is Glenn Maxwell. With spin friendly decks expected in Sri Lanka and the batting form of pace-bowling all-rounder Mitchell Marsh looking shaky, Maxwell could really push for that number six spot.
Although he has had limited opportunities in the first five rounds of the shield in 2015-16, Victoria’s top four firing in most matches, Maxwell has done what he seems to always do in the shield- scored runs quickly and when his team has needed them most.
In five matches (seven innings) Maxwell has compiled 250 runs at an average of 50, with two not out scores and two fifties, including a gutsy 62 with the team in trouble at 4/50 against SA.
All of this has been done at an impressive strike rate of 91.57
If Maxwell can continue this form and importantly, notch a big ton, he will be pushing for a spot on the plane when the Test squad is announced for the Sri Lanka tour in July.
Some other players who will be eager to prove themselves in the shield during the New Zealand Test series are listed below.
James Faulkner
Faulkner’s name is always there or thereabouts when Test squads are drawn up, but his form with the ball in the first four games of the Shield season that he played was hardly eye-catching.
In a total of 121 overs, Faulkner only managed 10 wickets in eight innings, at an average of 32.8 and an economy rate of 2.71. These are hardly the figures to push for selection as a front line bowler.
With the blade, Faulkner also had little success and didn’t do enough to convince the doubters that he is capable of holding down the number six spot, or even the number seven, should selectors opt to elevate Neville.
With 191 runs at an average of only 23.87, he will need a couple of big scores to prove he is a genuine all rounder in the first class arena.
Chris Lynn
With Lynn’s elevation to the Twenty20 squad for the India matches an indication that he is a strong contender for the world cup, it seems he is again likely to have a very truncated Shield season this year.
He missed the whole of the first half of the season with injury. Touted as one of the most talented batsmen in the country and with a first class average of 45.88 to back that up, what Lynn really needs to push his case for the Test team is an extended run of first class matches.
It looks like he won’t get that, but he may get two or even three matches in February, so he will need to pile on the runs to remind the selectors that he is not just a T20 basher.
Having had similarly short seasons in 2014-15 and 2013-14, due mainly to injury, let’s hope Lynn can have a full shield season next year.
Aaron Finch
Finch’s first class record is so bad that he is actually struggling to make the Victorian team this year. The two-match window in February when the Test team is playing is a good opportunity for Finch to nail down the number five spot in the Victorian team and show the talent that he has in the shorter formats.
His first class form for Victoria so far is not great, with 203 runs from eight innings at an average of 33.83 this season, and with Dan Christian and Cam White competing for middle order berths, Finch will be wanting to put up some big scores.
George Bailey
Is his Test career already over? His red hot form in the early part of the Shield season would suggest that perhaps it is not.
It remains to be seen whether another ‘veteran’ can be squeezed into the Australian top 6, with Voges having secured his spot for the foreseeable future, but his 543 runs at 60.33 from 10 innings sees him second in the runs tally behind Ben Dunk. Surely his name could crop up in selection discussions?
The two matches he would likely be available for in February loom as an opportunity to ensure that he remains top of the list should an opportunity arise.
Travis Head
Like Lynn, Head’s elevation to the Twenty20 side means he may miss the back end of the Shield season if he makes the final world cup squad.
Unlike Lynn, Head’s first class record is pretty average, including this season when he followed up an impressive ton with a series of very low scores to finish the five matches with 220 runs at 24.44.
Head will be looking to boost those figures in the first three shield games after the break, and with Ferguson out injured for the rest of the season, SA will need Head to stand up and make the runs required.
Apart from the above mentioned players who are all involved in the ODI or Twenty20 squads, there will be a number of young batsmen and bowlers looking to impress over the course of the last five shield games and the final.
Batsmen including Victorians Marcus Stoinis and Peter Handscomb, Western Australia young gun Cam Bancroft and the ageing Klinger, Ed Cowan and Ryan Carters at NSW (although Carters has had a horror start to the season).
All of these players could push for Test contention, should a spot open up in the squad to tour Sri Lanka.
Fortunately for Australia, a spot is only likely to come up at number six if selectors are left with no chance but to drop Mitch Marsh. The remaining top five for Australia and next-in-line Shaun Marsh all are in fine form and barring some very bad runs in New Zealand (which would be tough given it is a two-Test series), should all be on the plane to Sri Lanka. It looks likely that opportunities will only come up if an injury occurs to one of the incumbents.
As far as bowlers go, as we have seen recently, anything can happen given the propensity of young fast bowlers to break down. Currently, Australia’s best pace attack is quite young.
With top choice fast bowlers Mitch Starc, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jason Behrendorff and Pat Cummins all out injured, Josh Hazlewood and James Pattinson have a chance to settle in as the first two bowlers picked for every Test side.
This leaves a host of contenders for the third seamer spot that will only get longer once the walking wounded return to the field.
In New Zealand it will be Pete Siddle, Jackson Bird and Chadd Sayers battling it out for that third spot. Will there even be a third spot in Sri Lanka? Or will Australia opt for two spinners, giving Steve O’Keefe the front running?
Either way, Siddle, Bird, Sayers, O’Keefe and even Ashton Agar will be keen to pick up as many wickets as possible in the last two or three shield games to keep their names in the hat for that tour of Sri Lanka.
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