Australia are considering the option of bringing Peter Handscomb back to open the batting in the middle order if Cameron Green fails to recover in time for the first match against India starting February 9, head coach and selector Andrew McDonald has indicated. Is. Seam-bowling all-rounder Green, who is recovering from a finger fracture, has also been named in the Test squad along with Handscomb. “He’s really important,” McDonald was quoted as saying in the Sydney Morning Herald.
“It’s been well documented that his game against spin is excellent, and we feel like he’s probably back to producing what he was producing two or three years ago.” Both Handscomb and Green have been taking batting practice on specially prepared “scarified” pitches in humid conditions at Bon Andrews Oval in North Sydney to experience match simulation ahead of the four-Test series that will mark their world cup debut. The Test Championship finals will determine qualification.
Handscomb was also a member of their previous tour of India in 2017. He also provides utility value by playing the dual role of wicket-keeper.
“Lots of runs even on those slow surfaces in Shield cricket. He’s capable of keeping as well, so it gives us every option for Josh (English) and if anything happens to Alex Carey, there’s flexibility.” But the bat pads, even in the close fielder, are of immense value when you tour the subcontinent.
“We see him as an important right-handed option. We’ve got a lot of left-handed options, so a very important right-handed option for us. If there’s a late change, or Cameron Green he’s the first Test We think we have some good options.
“We look at his (Green) batting first and foremost really, he’s a batsman in our top six and we appreciate that, his bowling is a bonus,” McDonald said.
“The biggest challenge where he’s positioned at the moment is bowling. There’s a lack of loading, and that’s one of the main reasons we’ve come early in this camp and this mode.”
“She has to consult the surgeon again tomorrow, and it’s about the four-week mark, where she should be given the tick of acceptance that the bone has healed.
“I don’t want to get into medical terms here, but basically after that, it should just build him up and see how he goes each session.
“The key is to build confidence, prepare him to be successful in the first Test, giving him enough time, that will be the key question,” the coach said.
Injured Australia fast bowler Mitchell Starc was also back in training and is likely to be late for the tour ahead of the second Test in Delhi.
McDonald also praised North Sydney Oval curator Kieran Murant for preparing the India-like pitch.
“It seems to us that the surfaces we found are very similar to the surfaces we encountered in India, which is very difficult to replicate,” McDonald said.
“But we feel like we got close to that, so the ground staff have done a fantastic job.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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