Ashton Agar & Matt Renshaw To Find Place In The Team For SCG Test
South Africa will face a less hostile Australia in third and last test match at the SCG. Injuries will keep Mitchell Starc and Cameron Green away from this match and this opens of opportunity for Ashton Agar and Matt Renshaw to get their place in the first team set-up.
Australia is eyeing on a whitewash and in order to achieve a 3-0 series victory and virtually guarantee a spot in the World Test Championship final, Australia will make at least two changes at the SCG. Cameron Green and Mitchell Starc are both out due to broken fingers they sustained at the MCG.
The side is difficult to balance without Green, and the two players called up to the team provide different options.
If the SCG surface, which has taken a turn at various points this season, looks dry for the Test, Agar, who played the last of his four Tests in 2017, might bat at No. 7 and team up with Nathan Lyon in a twin-spin assault.
If a side strain during the limited-overs leg hadn’t occurred, he probably would have been selected for the Test team in Sri Lanka earlier this year. With his call-up, he is in in a great position to be included in the left-arm fingerspinner contingent for the upcoming India trip in February.
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Due in large part to his consistency in Australia’s white-ball setups, Agar has only participated in three first-class matches over the past two years, but in those three matches, he has bowled brilliantly. He has been chosen above untested offspinner Todd Murphy and legspinner Mitchell Swepson, who has experience playing in Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Matt Renshaw Might Get The Opportunity
Renshaw, who has 11 caps and last played in 2018, might fall towards the middle of the order if Australia chooses a more conventional balance. Dodemaide remarked on his adaptability, which would likely allow him to surpass Marcus Harris, who has served as the squad’s backup batter during the Test summer.
Renshaw previously batted in the middle order for Queensland in the Sheffield Shield this year, making an unbroken 200 against New South Wales before going on to make scores of 81 and 101 not out for the Prime Minister’s XI against the West Indies in Canberra.
The replacement for Starc in the pace attack will also need to be decided by the selectors. Head coach Andrew McDonald said Lance Morris, Australia’s quickest bowler, would be in line for a debut during the SCG Test.
This begs the issue of whether Josh Hazlewood will be able to play after declaring himself well following a side strain he sustained against the West Indies in Perth that forced him to withdraw from the Boxing Day Test. With three wickets at the MCG, Scott Boland put in another strong performance. In his six Test matches, he currently has 28 wickets at 12.21.