David Warner and Will Pucovski will miss the first test, while Joe Burns has struggled to get in shape.
It is not beyond the realms for Australia to enter the first test in Adelaide with a starter who was not on the team two days ago and another who has never made it in test cricket.
As far as the top of the order goes, it’s been a chaotic week or so. David Warner and Will Pucovski, with no cap, are out, the latter perhaps more likely to appear on Boxing Day than the former, and the other starter Joe Burns has barely been able to score a run. He’s been dusted off by the attack he would face on Thursday, and the man who seems most likely to play, Marcus Harris, is coming back to the side after a 16-month gap.
Moments after Burns left the field Sunday, trapped in lbw by Mohammed Shami, following Harris’s dismissal, the cameras turned on national coach Trevor Hohns by phone. He has been a busy man and the most difficult decision may still be to come. Justin Langer and Tim Paine will expect a sense of order to emerge over the next few days in Adelaide, which involves a day off on Monday, an intense training session on Tuesday, and lighter work on Wednesday against Paine and Virat Kohli (in their last mission of the tour) go out to the drawing on Thursday afternoon.
“There’s some pressure on him for sure,” Chris Rogers, part of Australia A’s coaching staff, said of Burns before his second inning at SCG. “He’s not stupid. So he has to take this opportunity, that’s pretty important, and then it’s up to the selectors.”
There has been good news for Australia as Mitchell Starc rejoined the team on Monday after his compassionate departure due to a family illness (he is a formidable threat with the pink ball) and Cameron Green, the no-cap off-roader, will travel to Adelaide afterward. having made promising progress after the blow to the head in his follow-up at SCG that left him with a mild concussion.
However, given the tight time frame, it’s not certain that Green is ready to compete. Before these Australia A matches, it seemed unlikely that he would make his debut early in the series, but such have been the problems at the top of the order that one of the options gaining ground is a promotion to open for Marnus Labuschagne. (or even Matthew Wade) who then creates a natural vacancy for Green at No. 6.
He did a very good 125 against the Indians at Drummoyne Oval, and while he’s still restricted to four more spells, he’s chipping away. However, under the lights, Australia’s big three rapids (along with Nathan Lyon, who has an impressive record with the pink ball) are unlikely to need much support. Green would have earned the pick as a hitter.
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Labuschagne backs Burns to rediscover form
That, however, depends on him clearing up the various concussion protocols and getting back to full training. Former Australian doctor Peter Brukner suggested on Saturday that the course change would likely be too tight.
It is unclear where that leaves Australia. So far they haven’t hit the full panic button and have summoned someone from outside of the A team who has been to Sydney. But the call will have to be answered if Burns cannot be selected.
“That’s where Joe Burns is with his technique right now – he just got shot. It’s a sad sight, isn’t it? To see a guy really struggling to find some kind of shape,” said the former Australia captain. , Allan Border, to Fox Cricket. after the impeachment against Shami.
“My instinct is just not [for Burns]. He’s been given these little windows of opportunity because of injuries, concussions, circumstances with other guys without nailing a spot, “Border said.” If he had shown anything, even if he was 20-something today and hit well and got a good ball to serve, he might think, ‘Okay, we’ll keep the starter.
Members of the test squad already in Adelaide have been practicing on the field in the center with a handful of them, including Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, who have not played cricket for a long time since the first week of January.
“It’s been unusual, a different inning for everyone, guys playing Shield, IPL and then we started with one-day cricket and T20,” Hazlewood said. “Every international cricketer is ready for that, they know the things they have to score and we had a very good advantage here, a few days at Adelaide Oval, and we still have several sessions left before the game.”
Whether those sessions are enough for Burns or whether a decision has already been made is the big question.
Andrew McGlashan is deputy editor of ESPNcricinfo
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