Australian opener Matt Renshaw is recovering from a minor hamstring strain but hopes to press his case for Test selection in the four-day clash against India A, beginning on Sunday.
Renshaw, part of the Australia A squad preparing for the clash in Bengaluru, was still able to have a net session on Friday in a bid to prove his fitness.
Fellow Queenslander Marnus Labuschagne, who had only been selected for the quadrangular one-day series, will remain with the squad for the next few days as cover for Renshaw.
Crunch time has arrived for Australia’s fringe players, with the first of two four-day matches now the focus. The matches are being pitched as auditions for spots in Australia’s Test squad for the UAE, which is not expected to be named until the selectors have had a chance to look at how the likes of Kurtis Patterson, Chris Tremain, Michael Neser, Joel Paris and Alex Carey perform in Asian conditions.
The suspensions to batsmen David Warner, Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft, as well as injuries to quicks Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, mean there are abundant spots up for grabs ahead of the UAE tour.
Renshaw was one of two replacement openers in the final Test against South Africa in March after Warner and Bancroft lost their positions.
Queenslander Neser, a late replacement for Hazlewood on the mid-year one-day tour of England, said he was ready for the longer format using the local SG cricket ball.
"I can definitely take a lot out of my season in Shield cricket. I don't feel like it was too long ago. I am looking forward to bowling in four-day cricket. I am sure it's going to be a challenge but I am up for that challenge," he said.
"I am looking forward to bowling with this (SG) ball. It might scuff up a bit more and reverse might play a bit of a roll in this fixture."
Neser was the second leading wicket-taker in the Sheffield Shield last season, claiming 39 wickets at an average of 21.84, as the Bulls won the title. In his two one-day international matches against England, he claimed 2-46 at The Oval but had 0-74 at Chester-le-Street as the hosts chased down 311 for victory.
Usman Khawaja, Travis Head and D’Arcy Short were among the best performed of Australia A’s players in the just-completed quadrangular one-day series in which Australia A lost the final to India B.
The four-day matches will be another audition for Mitch Marsh to show his captaincy wares. Marsh is contention for the vice-captaincy of the Test side under Tim Paine. Marsh also bowled in the nets in the Friday, as he steps up his comeback from shoulder surgery in March.
Meanwhile, Australia’s Test players won’t feature in the first handful of domestic one-day matches with Cricket Australia opting to keep them in Brisbane for a training camp ahead of departure for the United Arab Emirates.
The JLT one-day series begins in little over a fortnight, with early matches split between Townsville and Perth. Victoria begin their campaign on September 16 against Queensland in Townsville, the first match of the tournament, before another game on September 19 against Tasmania.
Peter Handscomb won’t play for Victoria early in the season if picked for Australia.
The squad for the two-Test series against Pakistan doesn’t depart until September 19, however CA have clarified to states that players picked for the Test tour won’t play in the domestic competition before their departure, instead convening in the Queensland capital.
The schedule for the tour of the UAE was only released this week by the Pakistan Cricket Board. Australia will have an extended period of acclimatisation before their only pre-Test warm-up match against Pakistan A in Dubai, a four-day match which begins on September 29.
The first Test starts in Dubai on October 7, with the second Test in Abu Dhabi starting on October 16.
A three-match Twenty20 series follows, beginning on October 24.
Former Australian paceman James Pattinson has had a setback in his return from back surgery which involved having metal pins and wire inserted. Pattinson, who had been ramping up his bowling, has suffered a hip flexor injury, and may not play a part in the domestic one-day series for Victoria.
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