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Injured vice-captain David Warner has backed rookie skipper Steve Smith to overcome the leadership vacuum left by his likely omission from the Bangladesh tour in October.
Warner admits it is “highly unlikely” he will feature in the two-Test series as he begins his recovery from a broken thumb suffered when struck by a Steve Finn bouncer in Australia’s one-day victory over England at Lord’s on Saturday.
Warner doesn’t expect to be able to pick up a bat for the next six weeks, leaving an enormous leadership dearth for Australia.
It’s a revelation which has left him “gutted” and could leave Australia fielding one of their most inexperienced teams of the modern era.
“I never want to miss a Test match but it’s probably highly unlikely I’m going to make Bangladesh,” Warner said in Manchester on Sunday, a day before he was due to fly home to Sydney to continue his recovery.
“At the moment it’s six weeks … before I can pick up a bat.
“That pretty much sums up what I can and can’t do.
“For me it’s about trying to target what’s after that, (sitting) down with the coach and the selectors and see what I have to do.”
In 2013 Warner suffered a small fracture in the same thumb and was able to recover in time to face India 23 days later.
On Sunday he indicated this time around the damage is more severe and the recovery time will reflect that.
Cricket Australia is yet to formally rule Warner out of the tour, such is his importance to a team which will be missing an extraordinary amount of firepower.
Australia will already be without retired trio Michael Clarke, Chris Rogers and Shane Watson when the two teams face on October 9 in the opening Test in Chittagong.
Veteran wicketkeeper Brad Haddin will also not feature in Bangladesh – having been overtaken by rookie Peter Nevill during the Ashes – though he is yet to formally announce his retirement.
Pace spearhead Mitchell Johnson and young gun Josh Hazlewood, both of whom played major roles in the recent Ashes series loss, will be rested.
In all, it leaves Australia looking to replace 345 Tests worth of experience for Steve Smith’s debut series as captain.
Losing Warner, too, is not something coach Darren Lehmann would have factored in.
It’s entirely likely Smith, who has 33 Test caps, and offspinner Nathan Lyon, with 46, could be the only players lining up for that first Test with more than 22 Tests to their name – unless paceman Peter Siddle is called upon.
“I don’t think it’s going to be a worry,” Warner said.
“The signs are there that we’ve got depth in Australian cricket and people are going to see first-hand how much depth there actually is.
“It’s going to be a good experience for those guys and Steve will lead them forward.”
Warner predicted both openers would likely be drawn from the recent Australia A series played in India, where Joe Burns, Cameron Bancroft and Usman Khawaja featured, while either Burns or Khawaja could also slot into the middle order.
Playing in similar conditions will hold those three in good stead, should they be picked, according to Warner.
Veteran Shaun Marsh also has experience at the top of the order, but has struggled to find any consistency at Test level and failed in his sole appearance during the Ashes, scoring 0 and 2 at Trent Bridge.
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