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Opinion
Australia’s got a pretty crowded schedule coming up over the next six or seven months and players will need to be at the ready because you never know when your chance will come.
As we’ve seen with Scott Boland coming in for the second Test with Pat Cummins out with a thigh injury, opportunities open up at the drop of a hat and you’ve got to be good to go.
Boland will thrive with the pink ball in Adelaide, I’m not sure if he can keep his Test bowling average to single figures but I reckon he’ll add a few more wickets to the 18 he snared in his first three matches last summer.
He’s well suited to day-nights Tests being tall, bouncy and accurate. I know he hasn’t played a lot recently but he’s got Shield games under his belt this summer.
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Here’s my shadow side for the first XI to come in at any stage over the next few months for the three-match home series against South Africa, then the four-game tour of India and the Ashes in England for June-July.
Matt Renshaw. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
Openers – Marcus Harris and Matt Renshaw: These two guys are at a similar stage of their careers. They’ve both had a go at Test cricket and didn’t quite nail it but they’ve done the right thing by going back to Shield level and scoring bulk runs.
Harris didn’t ever hit a career-defining century during his time in the team, he had a couple of gritty 70s, so I can see why the selectors keep going back to him as a shadow batter.
Renshaw’s white-ball cricket has helped him get back on track in the first-class arena and he scores much quicker now. He’s had a few good years for Queensland and also for Somerset since he got dropped from the Test side, he’s only 26 and he can even float down into the middle order if needed.
Usman Khawaja and David Warner are coming towards the end of their careers so someone is going to get a chance at opener in the not too distant future.
First drop – Cameron Bancroft: He’s also fallen short at consolidating his spot in his first go round in the Australian side but he’s performed well for Western Australia and because there’s not that many middle-order batters in form, I’d look at him at three if for whatever reason Marnus Labuschagne was unavailable.
No.4 – Peter Handscomb: This was an easy selection because he’s been the form run-getter in the Shield this year with Victoria and like the three guys I’ve just mentioned, he was thrown into Test cricket at a pretty young age, did a decent job but can do so much better if he gets another chance. A bit like Steve Smith, he’s simplified his technique so he’s not moving around so much at the crease and it’s paying big dividends.
We’ve seen that time and time again with batters in Australia, even the very best like Ricky Ponting, Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer, that during your first stint or two can be hard to establish your spot in the side long term but the batters are better equipped when they get recalled a bit later in their career.
Even Donald Bradman got dropped earlier in his career. The only guys I can think of in modern times who didn’t at some stage were ones like Adam Gilchrist and Mr Cricket, Mike Hussey, probably because they were around 30 by the time they got a start at Test level.
No.5 – Kurtis Patterson: This was the toughest selection to make because apart from Handscomb, there isn’t really a standout candidate. If you’re looking for a like for like replacement for Travis Head, he’d be the best option. He made a hundred against Sri Lanka a few years ago, then he’s had a lot of injuries for a batter. He’d like a few more runs under his belt at NSW before he gets another shot at Test cricket.
(Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
Wicketkeeper – Jimmy Peirson: He’s the best gloveman in the country and he scored a ton earlier this season with Queensland so if Alex Carey was out in the next few months, he’s the most reliable and experienced option. Long term I think Josh Inglis will be the next keeper in the future.
All-rounder – Aaron Hardie: Another like for like, he’d probably bat seven in Test cricket behind Carey but he’s the closest thing we’ve got to Cameron Green. He did pretty well for Australia A in Sri Lanka and he bowls handy medium pace.
Spinner – Todd Murphy: The young Victorian offie is the future mainstay of the Australian team but over the next few months, it will depend on the pitch as to who’ll they’ll select as a second spinner or if Nathan Lyon is out. The conditions could suit the left-armers of Ashton Agar or Mitchell Swepson’s leggies. Swepson deserves another chance at some stage based on what he’s done in Pakistan and Sri Lanka, Agar’s at the top of his game but can’t get a run unfortunately and Murphy’s really the replacement for Lyon down the track.
Todd Murphy. (Photo by Morgan Hancock/Getty Images) (Photo by Morgan Hancock/Getty Images)
Fast bowlers – Michael Neser, Lance Morris and Scott Boland: Neser has dominated Shield cricket, has been getting hundreds as well. He’s a swing bowler who’s not going to let you down.
Morris is the fastest bowler in Australia up there with Mitchell Starc and he’s also a guy with an action that could go well in the subcontinent. He’s a real slinger and they tend to bowl really good reverse swing. We saw in England’s Test the other day against Pakistan how important that can be and Morris would be reversing it at about 20km/h quicker than Jimmy Anderson and Ollie Robinson.
Boland is getting his chance to replace Cummins in this Test so he’d be the other shadow player but I also really like what Mark Steketee has done for Queensland the past few years. I think he could come in and do a job straight away – he’s big, tall and bouncy, looks like he’s got a fair bit in him.
Jhye Richardson would be in there as well but it’s a shame he’s got that heel injury at the moment. He took a five-for against England last year in the Ashes and he’s someone who could do really well in Tests if he can string a few matches together.