Published: Aug 11, 2015, 06:23 PM (IST)
Edited: Aug 11, 2015, 06:23 PM (IST)
Australian Selectors are working to finalise the squad for ODIs in England. Curtains will be lifted on Australia’s next ODI spinner by 12th of August 2015. This shall be when the squad will be announced for the limited overs component of the Qantas tour of the British Isles. It is rumoured that a vast portion of Australia’s Ashes squad shall be missing from the approaching five-match series against the English (this series will be played ahead of the match with Ireland to be played in Belfast). The suspense is who will get the call; Ashton Agar, Cameron Boyce or Adam Zampa. READ: Ashton Agar credits simple bowling plans, adaptation to wicket for win over India A
In a conversation with cricket.com.au Agar said, “We always talk to each other in the nets. We’ve all got a pretty good relationship with each other. We get along quite well and talk spin bowling all the time. The spinners who are playing the games talk to each other about what the wicket’s doing, what they think might work, what they think won’t work.”
Batsman Glenn Maxwell was used as Australia’s best tweaker for all the games (except one) of World Cup 2015. Selectors have a time of approximately four years before they select Australia’s premier spinner for the World Cup 2019 which will take place in England. A new rule has come that five fielders will be allowed to field outside the 15 yards circle for the final 10 overs of the 50 overs game. With the coming of this rule the prestige of a spinner in the side has been restored. The rule is on a trial basis for a period of one month.
Zampa, Agar and Boyce have been playing in India for a while. Their performance is satisfactory (domestic to be more specific) but not very good. Agar was given a chance earlier this year against India. The 21-year old spinner has bowled pretty well in India after his rehabilitation from a shoulder injury. As for Zampa, he has still not played his first international match. However it needs to mentioned that he did pick four wickets against India A and also did his bit with the bat and made a hard-fought half century which helped their side to win by three wickets. ALSO READ: Pakistan vs Australia 2014: I wasn’t expecting T20 call-up, says Cameron Boyce
Now let’s talk of Boyce. He made his T20 debut last year. He played only one match in India and picked two wickets for 34 runs. Agar said, “We work as a team and try to bowl in partnerships.” Some players of the A squad may get a call; they include Usman Khwaja and James Pattinson. They have been impressive with the bat. Fast bowler Nathan Coulter-Nile and Gurinder Sandhu have a strong chance to be selected; so does Pat Cummins. Cummins has replaced Ryan Harris for the Test squad.
