Teen quicks present selection headache for one-off Test

Standout bowling performances from Annabel Sutherland and Stella Campbell in yesterday's third ODI defeat to India might have only complicated matters for Australia's selectors ahead of Thursday's one-off Test on the Gold Coast.

Australia's thrilling two-wicket loss ended their 26-match winning streak in the 50-over format, but captain Meg Lanning called out the performances of the teenage pair.

And as the series switches venues and formats, both look set to at least factor in selection conversations.

Sydney Sixers product Campbell looked at home in her first taste of international cricket, claiming 1-41 from nine overs and engaging in an absorbing battle with India captain Mithali Raj at a critical point in the match.

The 186cm 19-year-old bowled with good pace, topping out at 119.8kph, and very nearly had Raj caught at mid-on before claiming the key wicket of Yastika Bhatia as her first international scalp three balls later.

"Stella bowled really well; I was really impressed with her performance," Lanning said. "She came in, bowled aggressively, fast and bouncy, and really took the game on.

"That's all we wanted from her coming into this game, so I thought it was a great debut from her."

Sutherland meanwhile was even more impressive, with the Victoria allrounder claiming 3-30 from seven overs in her first international in almost a year.

Lanning later explained she actually bowled the 19-year-old more than had been planned pre-match, making the "instinct call" given how well her bowling was suiting the conditions.

As well as taking the key wicket of Raj, Sutherland removed the dangerous Richa Ghosh for a duck and knocked over Pooja Vastrakar to round out what at one point was shaping as a match-winning display.

"She was excellent," Lanning said. "I thought she hit her lengths really well, was consistent with her lines and turned the game back in our favour, which for such a young player is a great thing.

"She's had to wait her turn a little bit to get her crack and today was her opportunity, and I thought she did a great job."

Looking ahead to the Test at Metricon Stadium, head coach Matthew Mott has said he expects the fast bowlers selected to be used in bursts, with the spinners to do some of the heavy lifting throughout Australia's bowling innings.

With her extra height and bounce, Campbell shapes as an attractive prospect in that regard, however given she was rested today, fellow tearaway Darcie Brown might have the inside running for that role.

Sutherland's situation is more complex. The right-arm quick is also an exceptional young batter, so her hopes of a Test debut might well be contingent on team balance.

That in turn could depend on the fitness of opener Rachael Haynes (hamstring) and leg-spinner Georgia Wareham (quad), both of whom are under injury clouds three days out from the Test.

Should Haynes be ruled out, Australia may either opt to include another batter in Georgia Redmayne, or another pace-bowling allrounder, which could work in Sutherland's favour and potentially see her debut alongside fellow pace-bowling allrounders Tahlia McGrath, Nicola Carey and Ellyse Perry.

If Wareham misses out, selectors could replace her with off-spinner Molly Strano, or again opt for an extra seamer who can bat.

Lanning said conditions would also factor into selectors' thinking.

"It's going to be pretty difficult to pick the team – there's a lot of good young fast bowlers in form, so it's probably going to come down to what the conditions look like and how we think we can take 20 wickets, which is going to be the biggest challenge," she said.

"We have to make sure we look after our fast bowlers as well, they're very young and coming through and there's a really good plan in place for them to start their international careers.

"They've all had a taste of it now, they've had a crack and they're looking forward to the opportunities that might present in the next couple of weeks."

CommBank Series v India

Australia lead India 4-2 on points

Australia squad: Meg Lanning (c), Rachael Haynes (vc), Darcie Brown, Maitlan Brown, Stella Campbell, Nicola Carey, Hannah Darlington, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy, Tahlia McGrath, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Georgia Redmayne, Molly Strano, Annabel Sutherland, Tayla Vlaeminck, Georgia Wareham

India Test and ODI squad: Mithali Raj (c), Harmanpreet Kaur (vc), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Punam Raut, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Yastika Bhatia, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Shikha Pandey, Jhulan Goswami, Meghna Singh, Pooja Vastrakar, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav, Richa Ghosh, Ekta Bisht.

India T20I squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Yastika Bhatia, Shikha Pandey, Meghna Singh, Pooja Vastrakar, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav, Richa Ghosh (wk), Harleen Deol, Arundhati Reddy, Radha Yadav, Renuka Singh.

First ODI:Australia won by nine wickets

Sep 24: Australia won by five wickets

Sep 26: India won by two wickets

Sep 30 – Oct 3: Test match, Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast (D/N)

Oct 7: First T20, Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast

Oct 9: Second T20, Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast

Oct 10: Third T20, Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast