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Australia have settled on Nathan McSweeney to be Usman Khawaja’s opening partner for the start of the blockbuster Test series against India. After an outstanding start to the domestic season, McSweeney has beaten Marcus Harris for the vacant spot in the Australian XI.
McSweeney will become the first Australian player in 47 years to make his Test debut as an opener despite never having batted there at Sheffield Shield level. The 25-year-old top-scored in both innings of the first Australia A match in Mackay when batting at No 4. But he was unable to convert starts – 14 and 25 – in both innings as Australia A closed out a six-wicket win in the second match at the MCG.
The right-hander will become Australia’s 467th men’s Test player, and first since spinner Matt Kuhnemann debuted in Delhi in February 2023. McSweeney will almost certainly face the first ball, something he is prepared to do.
“I’ve heard that ‘Uzzy’ (Khawaja) is not the biggest fan of it,” a beaming McSweeney said on Sunday. “I faced the first ball in both innings out here (at the MCG), so I’m comfortable with that. I’ve already been told that by a couple of the boys.
“Other than walk out one position earlier than I normally do, my prep is the exact same. I trained with the new ball batting at three, and you can be in there in the first over of the game.”
Harris, who last played a Test in January 2022, has even missed out on being part of the extended squad after selectors chose Australia’s white-ball wicketkeeper Josh Inglis to be the spare batter. Left-hander Harris top-scored for Australia A in the recently-completed tour match at the MCG, but he also fell for a golden duck in the second innings.
For the next match, selectors decided to trial McSweeney as an opener, swapping places with NSW teenager Sam Konstas. He left the the door ajar for Harris to take his spot with middling scores but chairman of selectors George Bailey had seen enough to pick McSweeney for the first Test at Optus Stadium, saying the last tour game was “icing on the cake”.
“We really value Australia A cricket,” Bailey said. “It’s important to put a little bit of onus on these games
“It would have been disrespectful to the game to have had announced this squad a week ago, we wanted to play it out and get as much information as possible. They don’t necessarily send someone from the bottom of the pile to the top, but they continue to put together good cases.”
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After all-rounder Cameron Green was in October ruled out for the summer with a back injury, selectors confirmed Steve Smith would be shifting back to his preferred spot of No 4 following four Tests as opener at the start of this year.
Western Australian opener Cameron Bancroft and Harris were initially thought to be next-in-line having played Tests before and performed strongly at Shield level in recent seasons. But Bancroft couldn’t be considered after going through a dire form slump at the worst possible time.
Bancroft, who last played a Test in the 2019 Ashes, had dominated for WA during the past two seasons, but his top score across eight innings this summer is 16.
Australia squad: Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins (capt), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Scott Boland.
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