White-ball blaster Josh Inglis has been ruled out of becoming Australia’s new Test opener but the door remains ajar for out-of-form Western Australian teammate Cameron Bancroft.
South Australian captain Nathan McSweeney and NSW teenager Sam Konstas have firmed as the top candidates to bat at the top of the order with veteran Usman Khawaja against India this summer.
Bancroft, who has been overlooked for Australian selection since the 2019 Ashes, has endured a difficult start to the Sheffield Shield season after numerous prolific campaigns.
Inglis, Australia’s incumbent white-ball wicketkeeper, had been thrown up as an option to play as a batter-only.
“I’ve spoken to Josh on this, and not in the short term do I think he’s someone that we’d be looking to place in the top order,” chairman of selectors George Bailey said on Monday.
“There’s no doubt that the form is really fantastic at the moment as we have seen when he has been playing for Australia and then the ability to jump back into domestic cricket and dominate as he has been.
“Different series at different times of the year is when he’d firmly come into the mix as a batter, and I think if the right opportunity opened up over the summer in the spots we think he’s most capable of performing.”
Bailey has reached out to Bancroft to assure the 31-year-old his consistency over recent seasons would be taken into consideration.
“Missing out in a couple of Shield games isn’t going to be the be all and end all on that front when he has been as consistent as he has,” Bailey said.
“I imagine Cam’s in exactly the same space as he always is.”
Bailey’s comments came after Australia opted to leave out all of their first-choice Test XI for the Twenty20 series against Pakistan so they can prepare for the blockbuster battle for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
After facing Pakistan in three ODIs, starting on November 4, Australia will play the same opposition in the shortest format of international cricket.
But the third and final T20 takes place in Hobart on November 18, just four days before the first Test against India at Perth’s Optus Stadium.
Quicks Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis and Spencer Johnson have been recalled to the white-ball squad after recovering from injuries.
Australia named the squad despite not settling on a captain for the three games.
A skipper to fill the void left by Mitch Marsh, Australia’s Test No.6, could be Inglis, Adam Zampa, or even the enigmatic Glenn Maxwell, who captains the Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash League.
No members of the 13-man squad have captained Australia in any format previously.
AUSTRALIAN T20 SQUAD: Sean Abbott, Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Aaron Hardie, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Short, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa
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