Neser's injury sours 'world-class' quick's case for Test recall

After reasserting himself as one of the country's classiest bowlers by decimating India A's top order, Michael Neser's hopes of a Test recall might have taken a hit after the Australia A spearhead suffered a hamstring injury in Melbourne on Thursday.

Neser, who had narrowly missed taking a hat-trick in the 'A' game's first over, limped off the MCG after hurting his left hamstring while bowling his 13th over of the innings and holding figures of 4-27. He let out an audible groan before his exit and has been ruled out of bowling again in the match.

The 35-year-old hurt the same hamstring last month, forcing him to miss a One-Day Cup match for Queensland. That injury was deemed to be minor and he had since resumed training leading into this A contest.

A further factor may be a soft MCG outfield. Players have noted the extra toll on their lower bodies after playing in both last month's Sheffield Shield game between Victoria and NSW as well as the Australia-Pakistan ODI here earlier this week, although Beau Webster played it down as an issue in this match.

The results of Neser's medical scans will be monitored by national selectors. Neser was unlikely to play the opening Test in Perth anyway, but the right-armer will have been in calculations for the second Test under lights in Adelaide, which is a month away, given he has played the last two day-night Tests in that city.

"It's never nice to see a guy go down mid-over with an injury," said Beau Webster, who took 3-19 from nine overs.

"He's amazing with what he does with the new ball - swings it, hardly bowls a bad ball and ran through the top order nicely today, which gave us the upper hand on the first day definitely."

Neser's blow was a sour note given what a nightmare he and fellow fringe Test quick Scott Boland had been to face on the well-grassed drop-in surface, both putting strong cases forward to resume careers stunted by the resilience of Australia's 'big three'.

The class of the Boland-Neser duo, who have 42 wickets at 19.73 from 12 Tests between them, was apparent within 15 minutes of the match getting underway. In that time, they reduced India to 4-11 from 16 legal deliveries.

Neser was a clear standout in an attack that is as close to being a bona-fide second-string Test attack as possible. The Queenslander's ability to surprise with his bounce and find consistent movement remains as sharp as ever, backing up his strong start to the Sheffield Shield season.

Boland appears slightly less match-hardened, understandably given the start of his season has been interrupted by foot and knee concerns. For the most part though he proved as difficult to play as Neser and he pocketed the prize scalp of India A's star bat, KL Rahul.

"It was definitely cool to watch from first slip, being in the 'grippers' as opposed to facing it," said Webster.

"They're world class, both of them. They've been slamming away in first-class cricket for many years.

"When there's a bit of nip in the deck, a bit of pace, they're formidable, those two."

Australia have made no secret they will likely have to dig deeper into their pace resources this summer than they did in the last.

The ability of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc to play seven Tests uninterrupted last summer has been conceded as an aberration. It will not be lost on the Aussies' key decision-makers that it was those same three bowlers who were playing their fourth Tests on the bounce when India famously clinched victory at the Gabba on their last trip down under in 2020-21.

The premium they place on fresh fast bowlers should only be heightened given allrounder Cameron Green will miss the entire summer due to back surgery.

Lance Morris and Jhye Richardson (the injury-prone CA-contracted pair who are being carefully managed through the early part of domestic season) and Sean Abbott (ODI squad) are others who could come into calculations.

But if pitches are as seam-friendly as they have been in recent Australian Test summers, Neser and Boland reasserted they are almost certainly the most qualified candidates.

It went beyond just the new-ball carnage too. The impressive Dhruv Jurel (80) and Devdutt Padikkal (26) fought bravely to build a 53-run stand after the initial damage, scoring more freely when change bowlers Nathan McAndrew and Beau Webster came on. But when captain Nathan McSweeney brought his opening bowlers back on before lunch, the squeeze was back on.

Neser and Boland allowed one scoring shot in three overs bowling in tandem before Padikkal attempted to cut one too close to his body off the former and was caught in the gully. Boland meanwhile troubled Durel, having a caught-behind decision turned down when the three-Test keeper-bat was on 23.

Australia A v India A series

Australia A squad: Nathan McSweeney (c), Cameron Bancroft, Scott Boland, Jordan Buckingham, Cooper Connolly, Ollie Davies, Brendan Doggett, Marcus Harris, Sam Konstas, Nathan McAndrew, Michael Neser, Todd Murphy, Fergus O’Neill, Jimmy Peirson, Josh Philippe, Corey Rocchiccioli, Beau Webster

India A squad: Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Abhimanyu Easwaran (vc), Sai Sudharsan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Devdutt Padikkal, Ricky Bhui, Baba Indrajith, Ishan Kishan (wk), Abishek Porel (wk), Mukesh Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Navdeep Saini, Manav Suthar, Tanush Kotian, KL Rahul, Dhruv Jurel (wk)

First first-class match: Australia A won by seven wickets

Second first-class match: November 7-10: MCG, Melbourne (10.30am AEDT)

India intra-squad match abandoned in lieu of centre-wicket practice and match simulation sessions