Wicketkeeper
Tim Paine was handed a shock recall after a seven-year Test absence
yesterday as Australia gambled on sweeping changes for the first two
Ashes Tests against England. Paine, who has not kept for Tasmania in
their opening three Sheffield Shield games because of the presence of
incumbent Test gloveman Matthew Wade, comes into the 13-man squad along
with batsmen Cameron Bancroft and Shaun Marsh.
In a stunning
selection, 32-year-old Paine, who was once on the brink of retirement
over a serious finger fracture, was preferred to Wade and Peter Nevill
for his first Test match since October 2010. Bancroft, a 24-year-old
right-hander, is in line for his Test debut at the expense of opening
batsman Matthew Renshaw following a prolific series of scores for
Western Australia in this season’s domestic Sheffield Shield
competition.
Bancroft, who is also a wicketkeeper, amassed an
unbeaten 228 with other scores of 86, 76, 76 and 73 for his state side
to force his Test claims, while Renshaw has struggled for runs for
Queensland. Shaun Marsh, 34, makes yet another return to the Australian
side and is slated to bat at number six to shore up the batting instead
of all-rounders Glenn Maxwell and Hilton Cartwright.
Only five
players survive from Australia’s last Test against Bangladesh in
September. The first Ashes Test is in Brisbane next week, with the
second — a day-night match — in Adelaide from December 2. The selections
were described as “bombshells” in Australian press, while former Test
bowler Stuart MacGill lashed the selectors as “morons”. “Ashes
selections.... made by morons mascarading (sic) as mentors. Times (sic)
up gents,” he tweeted.
National selector Trevor Hohns said Paine has
been in the sights of selectors despite being overlooked by Tasmania to
play behind the stumps this season. But he also hit out at the
“unconvincing performances” of rival players, indicating that selectors
felt their options were limited.
“He’s (Paine) our Twenty20 ‘keeper
and performs well there, his batting has been pretty good of late and
the other side of it... is the unconvincing performances of other
contenders,” said Hohns, according to Australian media.
Bancroft’s
weight of runs proved an irresistible claim based on form for selectors
given Renshaw’s run of low scores for Queensland. “Cameron has been a
player of interest to us for some time now, having been unlucky to miss
out on the Test tour to Bangladesh that was cancelled in 2015,” Hohns
said. “He is a very talented and tough cricketer who shows a good
temperament for Test cricket.”
For Marsh, it is his eighth recall to
the Australian Test team as selectors look for their best six batsmen in
deference to the strong England bowling attack. “Shaun is playing very
well at the moment, having scored consistently in the One-Day Cup and
first three rounds of the Sheffield Shield competition,” Hohns said.
Paceman
Chadd Sayers has been added to the strong fast-bowling line-up in the
squad along with Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Jackson
Bird to give selectors options. But Hohns said the selection panel did
not feel Renshaw was batting well enough to merit Test selection.
“We
still view Matthew as a player of immense talent, but he is out of form
at the moment and we don’t feel an Ashes Test match is the best place
for him to find form,” he said.
Australia squad: Steve Smith (capt),
David Warner, Cameron Bancroft, Jackson Bird, Pat Cummins, Peter
Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Tim
Paine, Chadd Sayers, Mitchell Starc.
The 32-year-old Tim Paine, who was once on the brink of retirement over a serious finger fracture, was preferred to Matthew Wade and Peter Nevill for his first Test match since October 2010.