Spin twins: Playing two offies on the table with Bailey not fazed about throwing Murphy into Indian fire

Australia will have no qualms throwing off spinner Todd Murphy straight into the first Test at Nagpur even though he would be thrown into the fire of trying to bring down India’s star-studded batting line-up on their home turf.

Chief selector George Bailey said the uncapped Victorian 22-year-old had the maturity to cope with the ultra tough assignment and he was also unperturbed about playing him alongside fellow offie Nathan Lyon.

Murphy is vying with left-armer Ashton Agar and leg-spinner Mitchell Swepson to be Lyon’s first-choice partner in India after all four were named on Wednesday in the 18-man tour squad.

Bailey said all-rounder Cameron Green (broken finger) looks like he will be fit to play on February 9 in the series opener.

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He would then operate as the third seamer behind captain Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood with Mitchell Starc out injured, which gives Australia the flexibility to include two spinners in their line-up for what is tipped to be a turning wicket. 

Todd Murphy. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)

“He’s a great kid. Absolutely, he’s a chance to play,” Bailey said when asked about Murphy. “It’s certainly not a development tour. He’s earned his spot through his performances and what we think he can do.

“Clearly whether he can play alongside Gaz is a question, but they are different as far as off-spinners go. So I don’t think you’re necessarily looking at the same type of bowler. We’ll get across and assess the conditions and what we think we need once we hit the ground. 

“When you’re putting any attack together, you’re after complementary skills and wanting to make sure you cover as many bases as you can. But you often play two right-handed quicks if they’re your best two. That’s something we’ll weigh up.

“We do think we’ll probably get the heavier spin conditions in Nagpur, that’s probably what we’re planning for.”

Australia have rarely used two frontline off spinners in the same line-up – all-rounder Glenn Maxwell was the fifth bowler and operated in tandem with Lyon in India a decade ago but the last time two offies were selected among the four main bowlers was when Gavin Robertson and Colin Miller teamed up for a Test on the 1998 Pakistan tour.

Prior to that it was way back when Peter Taylor and Tim May were together for two Tests in Pakistan a decade earlier.

Middle-order batter Travis Head can also send down some more than handy off-spinners. He took 4-10 against Sri Lanka at Galle in June and chipped in with three breakthroughs in the home summer against the Windies and Proteas.

Murphy was given a taste of subcontinental conditions on an Australia A tour of Sri Lanka and India last year and has excelled at Sheffield Shield level this summer with 14 wickets at 17.71 for Victoria. He also bagged three wickets for Australia A against the West Indies at Canberra in November. 

“I am under no illusions as to how difficult it might be at times with how well they do play spin bowling,” Murphy told reporters on Thursday in Sydney where he is preparing for the Sixers’ BBL clash with Perth on Sunday. “To play against guys who have grown up playing spin their whole life, it’s something I’m going to have to be really patient with and try and learn along the way and figure out ways to outlast them.”

Bailey questioned the notion of whether there is “a good or a bad time to debut someone”. 

“I think he’s a very humble, hard working, good kid and at times you forget that he’s only 22 years old,” Baile said. “A lot of the traits that you look for in any young athlete, he’s really keen to learn, open to learning, a fierce competitor if you’ve had any opportunity to watch him play for Victoria. He wants to have the ball in his hand and wants to impact the result which is fantastic. 

“And he’s someone that we’ve seen improve quickly, every time we’ve given him some form of exposure. Anytime you get the opportunity to take someone new on a tour, it’s fantastic but particularly when someone’s displayed the talent and the performances that he has at such a young age is going to be great.”

“I’m sure if you ask the player ‘yeah, we’re thinking about playing you mate but we’re just going to hold off until we think we can find an easy game’. I’m not sure that that’d be that keen on that. So we don’t pick someone unless we think that they’re ready to perform if they get an opportunity.”

While Murphy is a definite chance to become Australia’s 465th men’s Test cricketer next month, Bailey said Agar and Swepson were also in with a strong chance. 

Bailey said white-ball specialist Adam Zampa was strongly considered for a Test call-up on this tour but Swepson, who took 10 wickets in four Tests on the Pakistan and Sri Lanka tours last year in his first forays into international cricket, was considered the better option as the chief leg-spin option. 

“Certainly in India we would like to have the availability of the left-arm orthodox. So it was great that we had the opportunity to get Ash a game (in Sydney), he hasn’t had a great deal of red-ball cricket. In horse racing terms, I think he will be better for the run,” Bailey said. 

“Swep’s on the tour because if we feel that we need a leg-spinner, we think he’s our best option.”

Mitchell Swepson. (Cricket Australia)

Assistant coach Daniel Vettori is Australia’s ace up the sleeve when it comes to the art of spinning out wickets on the subcontinent.

The New Zealand stalwart took 98 of his 362 Test wickets at Asian venues. 

“The type of person he is and the way that he engages with all the bowling group, not necessarily just the spinners, in its entirety will be fantastic,” Bailey said. 

“His ability to work with the spinners and that goes right from someone like Nathan Lyon who you’d classify as well experienced in these conditions to some of the guys who haven’t had the opportunity to play as much in the subcontinent, I think you’ll be a wonderful sounding board and coach for those guys.”