Matthew Wade has been confirmed as Australia's first-choice Test wicketkeeper but Brad Haddin
remains a "player of significant interest", according to the national
selector John Inverarity. Wade was named in a 12-man squad to take on
South Africa in the first Test, starting at the Gabba on November 9, and
there were no surprises in the group, with Mitchell Starc included and
Pat Cummins, who has not played first-class cricket for nearly a year,
left out.
The selectors chose four fast men - Peter Siddle, Ben Hilfenhaus, James
Pattinson and Starc - along with the offspinner Nathan Lyon, and the
main question in the lead-up to the Test will surround the final make-up
of the attack. There were no changes to the top six with the opener Ed
Cowan given a chance to make the position his own, after beginning his
Test career with encouraging but not outstanding performances against
India and West Indies over the past year.
The major decision for Inverarity and his panel was whether to give the
gloves to Wade, 24, who was wicketkeeper for the tour of the West Indies
in April, or return to the veteran Haddin, 35. Inverarity said both men
had made compelling cases for inclusion and while Wade had won his
place for the Gabba Test, Haddin, who still holds a Cricket Australia
contract, remained in the frame for future international selection.
"Matthew came into the Australian ODI team in February and has since
acquitted himself especially well," Inverarity said. "Matthew and Brad
both went to the West Indies; Matthew as our preferred ODI and T20
player and Brad as our incumbent and preferred Test match keeper. As is
widely known Brad returned to Australia early in the tour due to family
circumstances and as a consequence Matthew was our Test keeper for the
three Test matches.
"He kept and batted very well and made a match-defining brilliant
century in the second innings of the third and final Test against West
Indies. Since then he has played and gained valuable experience in
England, the UAE and Sri Lanka. As a young player, getting better by the
month, he is thoroughly deserving of his retention. While Matthew has
been retained as the Test keeper, Brad remains a player of significant
interest."
The selectors decided against including Cummins, 19, although he is
likely to be around the squad in Brisbane to prepare him for a potential
place in the side later in the series. Injuries and short-form
commitments have meant Cummins has not played a first-class match since
his Test debut in Johannesburg last November, and with Siddle and
Pattinson fit again after missing Australia's most recent Tests in the
Caribbean, the selectors decided there was no reason to rush Cummins.
"We didn't feel as though Pat Cummins was ready to play a Test match,"
Inverarity said. "We hope he'll be ready to play a Sheffield Shield
match soon, and then he's likely to come on the radar for perhaps the
third Test in Perth. That's not speculating that he'll be selected for
that, but he'll be ready to be in contention at that stage.
"The last Test match that Australia played, the third Test in the West
Indies last April, included Ryan Harris. Ryan is continuing his
rehabilitation from injury and is unavailable. Peter Siddle and James
Pattinson have recovered especially well from the injuries that rendered
them unavailable for that last Test in West Indies. In fact, they have
been enjoying an ideal preparation for the first Test in Brisbane having
played in three Sheffield Shield games with another one to come later
this week."
The squad will assemble in Brisbane on Monday and will have three days
of training ahead of the first Test. Two Sheffield Shield matches begin
on Friday but the New South Wales v Queensland game at Allan Border
Field does not start until Saturday and the Tuesday finish means some
Test players might miss the final day of the match in order to prepare
for the Test.
"I'm definitely playing the Shield game and I'm not sure if I'm playing
three days or four," Australia's captain Michael Clarke said. "I think
the plan is it will be an individual case, if NSW are batting on day
four it'd be silly for the batters to be pulled out to go into camp.
"We're very lucky we're playing in Brisbane so once we finish we can go
into camp, but in saying that, if a bowler has bowled a lot in the first
innings I think it would be silly to overload them leading into a Test
match. Pat Howard's on to that, the plan at the moment is to pull
everybody out, but I know he'll make sure he assesses once we get closer
to day four."
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