After fielding a very settled line-up this summer, barely changing the team for the past year, Australia’s selectors have some thinking to do ahead of the SCG Test.
Mitchell Starc and Cameron Green won’t play, meaning Australia need to find another frontline bowler and either an all-rounder or top seven batter.
Coach Andrew McDonald has just flagged they’ll likely add a spinner, so it seems Josh Hazlewood may miss out again for his home Test, assuming Scott Boland is picked to partner captain Pat Cummins in the pace attack.
Australia didn’t name a back-up spinner in the squads this summer, but Mitch Swepson is the most recent extra spinner picked alongside Nathan Lyon. He toiled in two tough Tests in Pakistan, only taking two wickets in the first innings. He also added eight wickets in three innings in Sri Lanka.
Twenty-two-year-old Victorian finger spinner Todd Murphy has also been one of the stars of the Sheffield Shield season, with 14 wickets at just under 18 in five innings.
As far as replacing Green, opener Marcus Harris is the only extra batter in the Australian squad and is far from a like-for-like replacement, although fellow squad member Michael Neser has the bowling chops and a couple of Sheffield Shield tons to his name. Could he bat seven in a Test? Probably if Alex Carey is in this sort of form.
Green’s fellow West Australian all-rounder, Aaron Hardie, has been thrown into the mix as a potential middle-order batter.
And let’s not forget that WA speed demon Lance Morris is also lurking in the squad.
Here’s a bit of a comparison of some of the contenders from this Sheffield Shield season.
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