Aussies set for 'final frontier' after undefeated summer

Australia might not have got the result they sought at the SCG, partly because they didn't end up with the spin-friendly pitch that was promised prior to a three-day deluge landing, but they have gleaned some significant information ahead of their upcoming India campaign.

The prospect of a dry, crumbling Sydney strip was sufficient for the national selection panel to name two specialist spinners in the starting XI for the final NRMA Insurance Test against South Africa – Nathan Lyon and Ashton Agar – alongside quicks Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood.

When the big wet arrived and the pitch stewed under covers and heavy cloud instead of baking and crumbling as normal summer conditions would facilitate, spinners found it heavy going and across the almost 300 overs bowled by tweakers on both teams they returned figures of 4-437.

Yet Australia's skipper Cummins was so pleased with what he saw from Agar as well as auxiliary off-spinner Travis Head – who accounted for one of those scalps – he confirmed both players would be crucial to bowling plans for the four-Test Qantas Tour of India that begins next month.

The touring party for that campaign, where Australia's sole series win in the past 50 years came in 2004, will be announced this week.

"Ash will be there, a left-arm orthodox … he'll absolutely be there," Cummins said of Agar despite the left-armer finishing his first Test in more than five years with 0-58 from 22 overs.

"It wasn't an audition at all (for the India tour).

"This wicket's a bit different to India, it wasn't really spinning out of the middle of the wicket.

"An Indian wicket sometimes really breaks up, even from the middle of the wicket, and a left-arm orthodox becomes a bit more effective against right-hand batters.

"I thought he did really well."

It's India's surfeit of right-handed top-order batters, especially with dynamic left-handed keeper Rishabh Pant sidelined though injury after a recent car accident, that had Australia keen to see how Agar would perform given his counter-point to Lyon's off-spin.

Lyon was the only spinner to take multiple wickets on a Sydney surface where seamers dominated (2-88 off 40 overs in South Africa's first innings) and will be the fulcrum of Australia's slow bowling strategy in India where conditions can vary wildly.

But Cummins also indicated Australia planned to name a squad that covered all possible contingencies and pointed to the options provided by Head, as well as occasional leg spinners Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne as part of the planning.

The Australia captain noted the team will be further strengthened by the return of all-rounder Cameron Green who missed the final Test with a fractured finger and is no guarantee to be fit for the start of the India series.

However, he added that while Green becomes an automatic selection when he's fit, there are so many bowling prospects for India that Australia won't be locked into a binding template of two quicks, two spinners and the all-rounder.

"Cam Green bats at six, so you've got three quick bowlers which is a bit of luxury as it is," Cummins said.

"He showed his class (taking five wickets at the MCG) so no qualms picking him - you know what you're going to get, and it's quality.

"Over there, if you're picking two spinners you think it's going to be quite a spinning wicket and Travis Head, Marnus, Smudge (Smith), they all come into it a bit more.

"Generally, if you're picking two spinners you're not expecting it to be a really long five-day game, and we've got some other resources there anyway.

"Trav is a slightly different off-spin bowler to Nath (Lyon), a bit flatter which could be really helpful over there.

"I've been really happy with how he (Head) has bowled, and probably under-bowled him even in this game.

"So he'll be a big part of our team over there.

"I think our squad will have basically all possibilities.

"It's a big series, so we want everything at our disposal."

When asked if leg spinner Mitchell Swepson, who was part of Australia's team on tours in similarly spinning conditions in Pakistan and Sri Lanka last year, was also in the frame Cummins was more equivocal noting only that he "is definitely part of future plans for the Aussie team".

The bowler who has strengthened his claims for a berth in the starting XI is Josh Hazlewood, who played just one of the five Tests in Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Cummins confirmed that reverse swing specialist Mitchell Starc is expected to miss at least the first Test in India as he continues his rehabilitation for a damaged tendon at the top of the middle finger of his left (bowling) hand.

But in his return from a side strain that forced him out of the final NRMA Insurance Test against the West Indies and the first two against the Proteas, Hazlewood emerged as Australia's leading wicket-taker at the SCG where his mastery of reverse swing was decisive.

Cummins is also a proficient exponent of the skill, which will be crucial on dry, abrasive surfaces in India, so Hazlewood's skills set could prove invaluable while Starc remains on the sidelines.

"I thought Joshy, the way he bowled throughout the whole game but especially that reversing ball, the way he can change his action and control the seam was fantastic," Cummins said.

"And I certainly took a little bit out of it myself.

"It probably wasn't a classic India wicket (at the SCG) as you might expect.

"But each game in India we might need to chop it up slightly differently.

"Maybe one game it's three quicks, maybe another it's one quick.

"We'll get over there and see."

Cummins said perhaps the only real negative from the rain-ruined Sydney Test was that recalled batter Matthew Renshaw, who was added to the XI to cover Green's absence, did not get to bat for more than the 11 balls he faced in Australia's only innings, finishing five not out.

However, he added Peter Handscomb – who was at the SCG for final days of the Test as a substitute fielder after fellow Victorian and squad member Marcus Harris was released to return to the BBL – was also in the mix for the India squad.

Handscomb played the most recent of his 16 Tests four years ago – against India at the SCG – but has experience on subcontinent pitches in India and Bangladesh where averages 34 from six matches.

"He's a huge chance over in India," Cummins said of Handscomb who also scored an ODI hundred in India in 2019.

"He's played really well over in Bangladesh, and India he's been there before and even in white-ball he's done well over there.

"He's obviously earned the right by scoring lots of runs in Shield cricket, so I'm sure come selection time he'll be there or thereabouts.

"It's always nice having a right-hander as well, as a different option – we've got plenty of left-handers."

Winning a Test series in India – which Australia has managed just four times in the 75-year history of Test matches between the nations – has been variously described as 'the final frontier' and 'Everest' by players and coaches in the recent past.

But Cummins believes the dominance Australia showed with the bat in remaining undefeated across five NRMA Insurance Tests played in vastly different conditions, and the manner in which his bowlers were able to find 20 wickets in each game bar the rain-affected Sydney fixture held them in good shape for the challenge.

"I think we've given ourselves the best chance," Cummins said when asked if he felt the team could defy history and defeat India on their home turf.

"I feel like we're adapting really well.

"Having the experience in Sri Lanka and Pakistan last year has put us in really good stead for India, no-one's going over there blind.

"We'll use the next few weeks to perhaps reflect on the last 12 months, and then get over there really refreshed and eager.

"I think we're as good a chance as we're ever going to be."

Men's NRMA Insurance Test Series v South Africa

First Test: Australia won by six wickets

Second Test: Australia won by an innings and 182 runs

Jan 4-8: Match Drawn

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Lance Morris, Nathan Lyon, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith, David Warner

South Africa squad: Dean Elgar (c), Temba Bavuma, Gerald Coetzee, Theunis de Bruyn, Sarel Eree, Simon Harmer, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Heinrich Klaasen, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada, Rassie van der Dussen, Kyle Verreynne, Lizaad Williams, Khaya Zondo