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Michael Neser will make a surprise appearance on Australia’s ODI tour of England, while Joel Paris, Brendan Doggett, Kurtis Patterson and Marnus Labuschagne were the bolters in the Australia A squads announced yesterday.
Queensland bowling all-rounder Neser has replaced spearhead Josh Hazlewood for the five-match ODI tour of England, which starts next Thursday with a warm-up match against Sussex.
Hazlewood’s injury means Australia will field a second-string ODI line-up, missing not only their two best batsmen in David Warner and Steve Smith, but also their three best ODI bowlers – Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins.
Neser, who is yet to play international cricket, will join an inexperienced Australian ODI unit. His bowling colleagues will be Jhye Richardson (one ODI), Billy Stanlake (two), Ashton Agar (four), Andrew Tye (four), Nathan Lyon (13), and Kane Richardson (15), meaning the Aussie attack will have an average experience of just six matches each.
Neser’s selection was unexpected given his poor domestic 50-over bowling record across not just his career (41 wickets at 37) but also last season (eight wickets at 35). The 28-year-old does, however, offer value with the bat, having creamed 122 from just 81 balls in a match against Western Australia last summer.
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Neser is also fresh from a standout Sheffield Shield campaign in which he took 39 wickets at 22, to go with 294 runs at 23. He seems to have been on the selectors’ radar for some time, having played for Australia A against South Africa A four years ago.
While Neser is short (183cm) by fast-bowling standards, he generates good pace, having been clocked at 145kmh-plus regularly in the Big Bash League. He is also a natural swing bowler and has been particularly lethal with the Dukes ball in the Shield, getting extravagant movement through the air. Whether he can replicate that with a white ball in ODIs remains to be seen.
If he debuts in England, Neser will face a monstrous challenge against the most destructive ODI batting line-up in the world.
Meanwhile, his Queensland teammates Doggett and Labuschagne could make their first appearances for Australia A in India in August and September.
Tall quick Doggett has been picked in the 14-man squad for the two four-day matches against India A, while batsman Labuschagne is in the 14-man squad for the 50-over tri-series against India A and South Africa A.
That marks a rapid rise for Doggett, who only made his first-class debut seven months ago, before going on to take 28 wickets at 27 in the Shield. Doggett bowls at a gentle pace, in the 130-135kmh bracket, but is tall, accurate, has a nice out-swinger, and gets sharp bounce.
His pace colleagues for the Australia A first-class matches are Neser, highly-gifted Western Australia left armer Joel Paris, and Victorian Chris Tremain, the best-performed bowler in the Shield across the past three seasons. There are three spin options also, in bowling all-rounder Ashton Agar, leg-spinner Mitchell Swepson and left-armer Jon Holland.
Agar is the frontrunner for the two-Test tour of the UAE against Pakistan in October, having turned in a fine performance with ball and bat in two Tests in Bangladesh last year.
Ashton Agar (AFP PHOTO/ANDREW YATES)
Australia have only picked six batsmen for the four-day matches in India, meaning Usman Khawaja will likely open with Matt Renshaw, followed by Kurtis Patterson, Peter Handscomb, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh and Alex Carey.
Patterson’s selection is well deserved, having piled up 2324 runs at 46 in first-class cricket over the past three years. It is curious that Patterson isn’t often mentioned as a Test candidate, despite the 25-year-old having one of the best first-class records in the country.
Meanwhile, in the 50-over tri-series, Labuschagne has been rewarded for fine seasons back-to-back for Queensland in the domestic one-day competition. Across those two seasons the 23-year-old made 562 runs at 47, and was extremely consistent, registering seven half-centuries from 13 innings. Labuschagne has a habit of making runs when his team most needs them, an attribute which has been evident in both one day and first-class cricket.
With 1421 runs at 38 across the past two Shield seasons, Labuschagne may creep into Test contention over the next 12 months if he has a prolific Shield campaign this summer.
For now, however, he has a great chance to push his ODI credentials. This Australia A tour offers more opportunities than ever for emerging players given the one-year bans handed to Smith, Warner and Cameron Bancroft.
Australia A first-class squad
Mitchell Marsh (c), Alex Carey (vc), Ashton Agar, Brendan Doggett, Peter Handscomb, Travis Head, Jon Holland, Usman Khawaja, Michael Neser, Joel Paris, Kurtis Patterson, Matthew Renshaw, Mitch Swepson, Chris Tremain.
Australia A 50-over squad
Travis Head (c), Alex Carey (vc), Ashton Agar, Peter Handscomb, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Michael Neser, Matthew Renshaw, Jhye Richardson, D’Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Mitch Swepson, Chris Tremain, Jack Wildermuth
50-over tri-series fixtures
August 17 – Australia A v India A
August 19 – Australia A v South Africa A
August 23 – Australia A v India A
August 25 – Australia A v South Africa A
August 29 – Final
First-class matches
September 2-5 – Australia A v India A
September 8-11 – Australia A v India A