As Nathan Lyon was given out LBW to South Africa’s debutant Keshav Maharaj, 28 years of unbeaten starts for Australia in home Test matches came to an end.
Not only does it leave Australia 1-0 down in the series against South Africa, it further reiterates that the side is still very much recovering from the retirements of some key players. Australia are still searching for their best XI.
With the news breaking shortly after the final wicket that Shaun Marsh is out for the second Test in Hobart with a broken finger and Adam Voges is not a certainty due to hamstring injury, the door has opened for Queenslander Joe Burns and South Australian Callum Ferguson. Both have been added to the squad to bolster the batting options.
We will see Burns come in at the top of the order being the automatic replacement for S. Marsh. Being completely honest, the man was unlucky to be dropped in the first place. He was poor in Sri Lanka, but has had a fairly solid start to his Test career with an average of 41.52 which includes three hundreds.
There’s no shame in struggling in the subcontinent. The pitches we produce in Australia don’t exactly prepare you for the raging turners that were seen in Sri Lanka that particular series. It ultimately would be unfair to judge him off that tour.
Recently, Burns scored a century in the first round of the Sheffield Shield against New South Wales, although did struggle in the second round against Victoria with scores of 4 and 7.
Despite that, it has not put the selectors off including him in the squad. He is certainly a class act and will be looking to make that opening spot his again – especially after losing it.
Callum Ferguson could be a really good inclusion one way or another. There really isn’t any doubt that Burns will play, but Ferguson does have that uncertainty about him. Obviously, if Voges is fit then he will more than likely play and if he isn’t then Ferguson slots in to his number five spot. It’s that simple.
Assuming Voges is fit, to get Ferguson in the side, who do you drop?
The selectors need to find a way to get Ferguson into the XI.
It would either have to be Voges or Mitchell Marsh. Positives and negatives from both sides. By replacing Voges, you still have the bowling option of M.Marsh. By dropping M.Marsh, you will have a longer batting line up but lose that other bowling option.
Certainly a tough decision, but with the way things have been going, it has to be M.Marsh. Australia can cope with the four bowlers and maybe get some overs elsewhere.
The batting has been a major issue in recent times for the Aussies and it was on display when they had the huge collapse in the first innings which saw them go from 1-158 to all out for 244.
I’m not just including Ferguson for the sake of it. I genuinely believe he has what it takes to be a serious batsmen at Test level. Also, with India on the horizon, the selectors should be looking to get him involved due to his ability to play the spinning ball better than most in Australia. He would be a reliable player in India.
A bit like Burns, he had a really solid opening round Sheffield Shield game scoring a century against Western Australia, but didn’t have any impact in the second round. Despite that, he is still in terrific form which is why he has been included in the Test squad.
He’s been very unlucky to not have made his Test debut at this moment and time. He has been one of the more consistent batsmen in the first-class level. It would only seem right if he gained his opportunity now. He would add real stability to a batting order that has the potential collapse in it.
So, assuming Voges is fit, this would seem the most appropriate XI from the current squad.
Australia Second Test XI versus South Africa – Possible line-up at Hobart
Warner
Burns
Khawaja
Smith
Voges
Ferguson
Nevill
Starc
Siddle
Hazlewood
Lyon
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