Retired Test spinner Steve O’Keefe says Australia should consider taking Cooper Connolly on the Sri Lanka tour but fears there may not be room on the plane for Mitch Swepson.
Australia will need to spin to win across two matches in Galle, where turning pitches could necessitate as many as three front-line tweakers alongside Travis Head’s part-time off-spin.
Nathan Lyon is assured of one spot, with fellow finger-spinners Todd Murphy and Matthew Kuhnemann both in the frame for Test recalls after impressive debut series in India’s similar conditions two years ago.
Kuhnemann is a particularly enticing prospect given he spins the ball the other way as a left-armer.
Corey Rocchiccioli, another off-spinner, could earn his Test debut after taking more wickets than any other tweaker in last season’s Sheffield Shield.
Australia will name their squad for the two-Test Sri Lanka tour this week and for O’Keefe, who played six of his nine Tests on the subcontinent, it’s a case of the more spinners the merrier.
“I would seriously be inclined to take them all,” he told AAP of the four leading off-spin options.
“The benefit at the moment with the spinners in Australia is that I think it’s as strong as it’s ever been in regards to guys being able to back up Nathan Lyon.”
With teenage opener Sam Konstas in line for his first taste of subcontinent Test cricket, O’Keefe said picking Connolly would lay further groundwork for the future.
The 21-year-old batting allrounder made a memorable first-class debut with 90 runs in the first innings of Western Australia’s win over Tasmania in the Sheffield Shield final last summer.
He averages 61.80 in first-class cricket, can send down handy overs of off-spin and has already debuted for Australia in Twenty20 and 50-over cricket.
With subcontinent wickets dramatically different from those produced by Australian groundskeepers, O’Keefe felt the tour and preceding training camp in the United Arab Emirates would give selectors a chance to ready Connolly for future Test honours.
Content Source: www.perthnow.com.au