The spotlight will be on Travis Head if Wade is pushed to the middle order
Matthew Wade expects David Warner to play Test 3 against India, but is not concerned about the impact his willingness to fill the opening spot could have on his future position in Australia’s batting lineup.
Warner’s fitness is one of the key issues ahead of the SCG test amid his battle for a proper recovery from a groin injury to resume his role at the top of the order. There is an acceptance, even from Warner himself, that he will not be 100% fit and that there is a risk for him playing in Sydney, but it seems like a gamble that could be made at the level of the series.
“We expect David to play, so either it will be me starting with him or they will make a switch,” Wade said.
That other change Wade alluded to would be the debut of Will Pucovski, who was ruled out of the first two tests due to a concussion, the ninth of his career, suffered in the preparation game against India in early December. Pucovski has gone through various concussion protocols and has trained extensively over the past two days at MCG before the teams depart for Sydney on Monday.
If he gets the go-ahead and Warner is deemed fit too, for Wade to retain a spot on the side he would have to return to the middle order, putting the spotlight on Travis Head at No. 5 with the off-roader Cameron Green probably has. done. enough in the first two Trials to hold his place.
When Wade accepted the opening role before the first test, he said there were no guarantees about what could happen on the track, but he hopes it has further strengthened his versatility.
“Justin [Langer] He talked to me and asked if I would feel comfortable doing it. No one pressured me to do it, “Wade said.” I said I’m more than comfortable opening it, I wasn’t worried in terms of Davey coming back. I saw it as an opportunity to show that he was versatile at hitting one to seven; I’ve hit almost every position in the Test lineup, so I saw it as a positive opportunity.
“Going forward, they have someone who can fill all the positions and I can also support myself if something happens to Tim. I saw it as a positive rather than a concern about getting elected, I’m a little out of now, my place has It has been speculated for 10 years so quite used to that. “
There has been some discussion about whether a Warner-Wade opening partnership would bring a more dynamic approach to batting for Australia, which has scored unusually slow in this series, but Wade attributed that to some tough conditions.
“There’s been a lot of talk about it, I’m not that aggressive to be honest,” he said. “People get carried away by the way I play white-ball [cricket] Compared to the red ball, in my first-class career I’m not a heartthrob by any stretch of the imagination. We all know what Davey does, he’s a dangerous player at the top of the order and they’re hard to come by – guys who average 50 and beat what Davey does.
“But standing on the field, India has also been under pressure with our bowlers for a long period. That’s tough, tough. Cricket test, not easy to score. The grounds have been what hit us the most. which we probably expected. In the pink ball game, we expected it to move and do it quite a bit, but in the MCG it cut a little bit and then turned more than we probably expected. We have to adapt faster to those situations. Sydney can turn around so we just have to be prepared. “
Andrew McGlashan is deputy editor of ESPNcricinfo
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