Heat on Green as Australia name first Test side
Joel Gould |
Under pressure allrounder Cameron Green has been encouraged to intimidate Bangladesh with bat and ball after Australia named their first Test side.
Experienced bowlers Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon will return from injury so warhorse Scott Boland is the unlucky omission for the opening Test, which starts against on Thursday in Darwin.
Captain Pat Cummins listed the batting order on Wednesday, with allrounders Green and Beau Webster included in the eleven.
Green will bat at No.5, wicketkeeper Alex Carey six, followed by Webster.
Cummins said he would like to see Green “assert himself” after averaging just 27.3 in his past eight Tests, with one half-century.
“The job for Cam is instilling lessons from his career so far and working out how he plays when he is at his best,” he said.
“It is no secret that we like it when he is up and busy, and putting pressure on the bowlers, and really intimidating, the same when he is bowling.”
Carey has averaged more than 80 in his six innings at No.6 and Cummins said there was no temptation to move him higher.
“I think Kez has won a few games for us at number six and we like that combination of him and Webster at six and seven,” Cummins said.
“I feel like Greeny is a good number five. You can try and get funky, but we felt that is how the team functions best.
“It is a pretty good problem to have when someone like Kez could bat even higher than where he is.”
Lyon last played for Australia in the third Test of last summer’s Ashes in Adelaide before injuring his left hamstring.
“It is great to have Nath back,” Cummins said.
“I was having a look at some of the footage of that Adelaide Test and that is the best he has bowled in years.
“It is pretty public how hard he has worked the last six months or so. He is in there every day training and waiting for this opportunity. He looks in incredible shape and has been bowling beautifully.”
Hazlewood missed the entire Ashes series with an Achilles tendon issue.
Cummins also played the sole Test last summer in Adelaide and returns to captain the side after recovering from a lower-back injury.
Wicketkeeper-batter Josh Inglis is the other member of the 13-man squad to miss out.
Boland was always tipped to be replaced by Hazlewood in the opening Test despite starring with the ball in the Ashes series with 20 wickets at 20.45.
Cummins confirmed the Boland and Inglis omission at his pre-Test press conference.
“They are both pretty classy, but we were pretty certain we wanted Lyon in the side so it was about working out what the makeup of the quicks were,” Cummins said.
“We went with Joshy. We know Scotty’s class. It is always a pretty tight call.
“There is not much you can say to Scotty except there is a lot of cricket coming up. He knows his worth, and how good he is, and I am sure he will be out there at some point pretty soon.”
Boland’s next opportunity will be in the second Test in Mackay, but with at least 20 Tests in the next 12 months to be played by Australia there is no doubt the 37-year-old will be back at the bowling crease soon.
AUSTRALIA: Jake Weatherald, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Cameron Green, Alex Carey, Beau Webster, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.
AAP