NEW DELHI: As the discussions and hunt for the top batting spot continue ahead of the highly anticipated Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against India beginning on November 22, Australian team selection committee chairperson George Bailey stated that wicketkeeper-batter Josh Inglis would not be considered as an option to open the innings.
After some inconsistent performances as an opener after David Warner's retirement and all-rounder Cameron Green's injury, Steve Smith was moved back to his very productive number four position. This has created a vacancy for the opening spot once more, with a number of well-known domestic stars and fringe Australians, including Cameron Bancroft, Marcus Harris, Matt Renshaw, and U19 stars Sam Konstas, vying for the top spot.
Despite all of this, Bailey has said that Inglis will not open, but he would be added to the batting order in the event of an injury or if a player keeps scoring poorly.
Inglis has participated in eight first-class games since the beginning of 2023, amassing 736 runs at an average of 61.33 in 14 innings, including four hundreds and a strike rate of 76.03. With two hundreds and a maximum score of 122, he has amassed 297 runs in four innings at an average of 99 and a strike rate of nearly 85, making him the third-highest run scorer in the current Sheffield Shield campaign.
Bailey was quoted as saying in the Sydney Morning Herald, "There is no doubt the form is really fantastic at the moment - you have seen when he has been playing [for] Australia and then the ability to jump back into domestic cricket and dominate as he has, has been fantastic."
"So [in] different series at different times of the year he would firmly come into the mix purely as a batter, and if the right opportunity opened up throughout the summer in the spots we think he is most capable of performing, then he would be firmly in that conversation as well," he added.
With Nathan McSweeney, Konstas and Harris in contention to be slotted into two vacant batting slots ahead of the Perth Test, Bailey said, "We have got three players who open the batting for their state and one player who bats three for their state, so four top-order batters to try to fit into three, so there will be some adjustments there."
"There is always the perception there is a little bit more pressure, the standard of cricket is higher so that is a great opportunity for seeing how players interact in a different team to what they're used to around their state. All of that is really important," he added.
With a century, two fifties, and a top score of 127*, McSweeney, a 25-year-old all-rounder, has performed admirably for South Australia in the ongoing Sheffield Shield, amassing 291 runs at an average of 97.00 in four innings. With six tons and eleven fifties in 63 games, he has amassed 2,086 runs at an average of 37.25 in 32 FC games.
With 302 runs at an average of 75.50 for New South Wales (NSW), two hundreds, and a peak score of 152, Konstas, who was a member of the U19 WC winning team this year, is currently the second-highest run scorer in the Shield. In six first-class games, he averages 45.70 and has amassed 457 runs, including two hundreds and a fifty.
Harris is a former Australian player who amassed 607 runs at an average of 25.29 in 14 Test matches, including three fifty-scores. He has amassed 237 runs at an average of 59.25 in four innings during the current Sheffield Shield, including a century, a fifty, and Victoria's highest score of 143. He has amassed 11,162 runs at an average of 39.72 in 167 FC games, including 29 hundreds, 46 fifties, and his highest score of 250*.
After Mitchell Santner of New Zealand led the Kiwis to a historic victory in the second Test match against India and handed the hosts their first series loss at home since 2012, the selection chair also urged for the development of more Australian left-arm spinners.
"I am happy to very much throw it out there that it is an incredible skill set in the subcontinent and we have seen that for many years. Realistically there is not a huge amount of players in domestic cricket that are doing it, so it is something we're looking to expose. It is certainly one of the reasons why we are excited about Cooper Connolly and his journey, still very much a work in progress with his left-arm spin," said Bailey.
Glenn Maxwell and Adam Zampa would not be leading Australia in the next November home Pakistan T20I series; instead, more recent players like Matt Short, Inglis, or Aaron Hardie would be the more likely contenders.
"We will give it (captaincy) to the person we deem the most appropriate," Bailey said.
"There is always opportunities for a bit more of an extended leadership group across the white-ball series and the way the strategy groups work and things like that. We will try to extend that group out a bit and keep trying to grow some capacity around leadership for when the senior guys are not there," concluded Bailey.
