Two Australians could potentially make their Test debut next week as the tourists grapple with how to balance their starting XI for the Warne-Muralitharan Trophy campaign against Sri Lanka.
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The Australian Test squad touched down in Dubai this week to ramp up preparation for the two-match series, which gets underway next Thursday in Galle. Steve Smith will lead the national side in the absence of Pat Cummins, who is expecting the birth of his second child as he battles ankle soreness, while bowler Josh Hazlewood is also unavailable due to a calf injury.
The Warne-Muralitharan Trophy has been in Australia’s possession since 2019, but Sri Lanka has won four of their five most recent home Tests against the powerhouse nation, including a 3-0 whitewash in 2016.
Australia has already booked its place in this year’s World Test Championship final at Lord’s, but the visitors will be eager to break a 14-year drought and secure their first Test series triumph in Sri Lanka since 2011.
The Australians experimented with their starting XI when they previously toured the subcontinent for the 2023 Border-Gavaskar Trophy in India – Peter Handscomb was recalled following a four-year Test hiatus, while three strike spinners were selected for matches in Indore and Ahmedabad, with Todd Murphy and Matt Kuhnemann receiving their maiden baggy greens.
Following an injury to veteran opener David Warner, Travis Head was thrown up the order as a makeshift opener, scoring 235 runs at 47.00 in a low-scoring series.
The South Australian, a successful opener in the white-ball formats, could partner Usman Khawaja at the top of the order against Sri Lanka this week at the expense of teenage phenom Sam Konstas, who has minimal experience on the subcontinent’s turning wickets.
“For me, it’s wherever we line up best as a team … I’m happy where I’m at (in the middle order),” Head told Fox Cricket when asked about the potential of opening in Sri Lanka.
“When Davey went down (in 2023), it felt like I was the next best option, and it seemed to have worked.
“Obviously being a bit more aggressive at the top, it felt like I got myself into the game, which was nice in those conditions, facing fast bowling first.
“It depends where the team’s situated, who’s doing well; we’ve got some very good opening batters at the moment.”
Speaking to reporters earlier this month, national selector George Bailey confirmed Head was “an option” to open the batting in Sri Lanka.
“There’s been a few preliminary discussions around where that may land, and that may depend on the makeup of that first XI,” Bailey said.
“Andrew (McDonald) and Steve (Smith) will settle on that in due course, once we hit Sri Lanka.”
However, Bailey didn’t rule out the possibility of Konstas facing the new ball in Galle.
“He’s a quick learner, absorbs a lot of information,” Bailey said..
“(We’re) expecting him to get a lot out of it. I know from his spin play in Australia, and the opportunities he’s (had) in different parts of the world, we think he’s got a game that’s well suited, and a technique that can stand up.
“But that’s one of the exciting things about this tour – we will learn a bit more about his game in different conditions to what he’s just faced in Australia.”
If Head opens the batting in Sri Lanka, it will create a vacancy in the middle order that reserve batter Nathan McSweeney or uncapped wicketkeeper Josh Inglis could occupy.
McSweeney, who has spent most of his first-class career in the middle order, made his Test debut as a makeshift opener during the recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India, but was dropped after compiling 72 runs at 14.40 across three matches.
However, Bailey confirmed the South Australian is still considered a long-term Test prospect.
“At times when someone is left out of a team or squad, there’s a view that they fall out of favour, or down the pecking order,” Bailey said.
“But that wasn’t the case with Nathan.”
Although Inglis is yet to make his Test debut, the West Australian gloveman has clobbered 363 runs at 72.60 in the Sheffield Shield this season and would be more than capable of serving as a specialist batter if called upon.
All-rounder Beau Webster gives Australia flexibility with its team balance, while wicketkeeper Alex Carey has expressed a willingness to bat at No. 6 if required.
Connolly in-line for debut baggy green | 00:54
Meanwhile, Matthew Kuhnemann’s recent finger injury has thrown a spanner in the works as national selectors ponder the makeup of Australia’s bowling attack for the Warne-Muralitharan Trophy.
Spinner Nathan Lyon and speedster Mitchell Starc are the only certainties to play, with conditions in Galle to determine how many tweakers Australia require in the starting XI.
Kuhnemann recently underwent surgery on his right thumb after copping a nasty blow during last week’s Big Bash League match against the Hobart Hurricanes at the Gabba. The Queenslander didn’t join the Test squad in Dubai this week, but is still expected to travel to Sri Lanka if his recovery progresses well.
The loss of Kuhnemann, who spins the ball away from right-handed batters, would come as a massive blow to the Australians, but it would open the door for young all-rounder Cooper Connolly to make his Test debut in Sri Lanka.
The 21-year-old, who enjoyed a prolific campaign with the Perth Scorchers in the BBL, only made his Sheffield Shield debut ten months ago, while he doesn’t have a first-class wicket to his name.
However, Bailey is adamant Connolly boasts the skillset required to succeed in subcontinent conditions.
“There’s lots to like,” Bailey said.
“Technically, we like it. Temperament, we like. Character, we like and clearly skill set there’s a lot to like there as well.
“On the first-class front, there’s not a great deal of games behind him … but he’s been around that one-day group, and we have, in the past, used that as a stepping stone at different times to see a player a bit more, find out a bit more about the way they play, and he was obviously the beneficiary of that.
“He’s someone that we’ve had our eye on for a period of time … there’s lots of work to go and this will be a really big challenge for him.”
The first Test between Sri Lanka and Australia gets underway at Galle International Stadium on Thursday, January 29.
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