Versatile Webster plans to 'carry on' in Test set-up

Opening the batting, bowling off-spin and medium-pace, Beau Webster has "done it all" over the past decade, but he's vowed not to deviate from his current method after being catapulted into the Australia squad for next week's second Test.

Webster, the reigning Sheffield Shield player of the season, has shot into calculations for a Test debut against India in Adelaide after Mitch Marsh pulled up sore following Monday's 295-run defeat.

The Tasmanian allrounder has been added to the squad should Marsh be unable to prove his fitness or selectors determine the risk is too great to play the West Australian as a batter only and they need the extra overs.

One of the most versatile cricketers in the Sheffield Shield, it's been Webster's dependability at No.6 and with his seamers for his state that has helped him rise through the pecking order of Australian allrounders for his maiden international call-up.

"Any time I feel like we're in trouble, I feel like I can throw him the ball and he just seems to be able to create something," captain Jordan Silk commented on Wednesday after Webster claimed the last two NSW wickets to deliver the Tigers their first win of the Shield season.

"He's a special player at the moment."

Such has been the 30-year-old's ascension to the national ranks as a like-for-like replacement for Marsh is that Webster only started bowling pace four years ago during the Covid pandemic.

While he first played for Australia A as a 22-year-old in 2016, that was as a batter bowling part-time off-spin.

He still bowls the occasional over of spin and says he would also be happy to if required at international level, but it's with his seamers and destructive middle-order batting that he believes he'll have his biggest impact if given an opportunity in the remaining four Tests against India.

"I'd be comfortable to do whatever they require; I feel like I've done it all in the last 10 years at the top and in the middle," Webster said today after being included in a 14-man squad for the day-night fixture at Adelaide Oval beginning on December 6.

"I daresay the role will be somewhere between that five and seven with the bat and some overs as well, predominantly seam up.

"We've got the spin department covered pretty convincingly with Nathan (Lyon) and a few other guys who bowl some part time spin.

"So it'll definitely be those seam up overs and that 5-7 role with the bat if I do get a chance."

Webster's switch to the long run was born out of a desire to give Tasmania options with team selection, but not even they could have imagined the success it would bring.

His motivation was to try and emulate Tasmania's three-time Sheffield Shield-winning allrounder Luke Butterworth and it wasn't long until Webster became his side's most important player.

He averaged 52 with the bat in his second Shield season as a fully-fledged pace-bowling allrounder, 43 in the next and 59 last summer while also collecting 55 wickets at a strike rate of 67 across those three years.

Last season, he went to another level, becoming just the second player in the competition's 132-year history to score more than 900 runs and take 30 wickets in a season. West Indian great Sir Garry Sobers was the first to achieve the feat.

And he's started this summer in a similar vein, with 448 runs at 56 and 16 wickets in six first-class outings, which includes scores of 61no and 46no and hauls of 3-19 and 3-49 in Australia A's 2-0 series victory over India A.

While Webster has always been able to make big hundreds, he's also previously been susceptible to periods of low scores. It's the consistency of the past three seasons he's most proud of and is what he'll be striving to replicate when he joins the Test squad in Adelaide on Monday morning.

"It's just keep doing what I've been doing," he said.

"It's obviously working for me at the moment (with) my preparations and my routine; I don't think anything will change there.

"You can't always get runs and take wickets, but to close the gap between your good and bad games is every cricketer's aim.

"I'm certainly not going to hit a lot more balls now I've been added to the squad or do anything outrageous. What I've been doing the last few years has worked for me and I'll stick to that pretty closely."

While today's announcement means Webster is one step closer to every Australian cricketer's dream of wearing the Baggy Green, he knows he's not quite there yet.

"It's nice to be in and around it and I can't wait to get training and just be around the Test setup," Webster said.

"I've been in good form for a while now – I'm hoping to carry that on and keep pressing my case.

"Being added to the squad is one thing, to debut is another – if I do, I'll be stoked and try and grab it with both hands.

"They're (Australia) a pretty formidable side and I'm sure we're going to bounce back after that first Test."

NRMA Insurance Men's Test Series v India

First Test: India won by 295 runs

Second Test: December 6-10: Adelaide Oval, 3pm AEDT (D/N)

Third Test: December 14-18: The Gabba, Brisbane, 11.20am AEDT

Fourth Test: December 26-30: MCG, Melbourne, 10.30am AEDT

Fifth Test: January 3-7: SCG, Sydney, 10.30am AEDT

Australia squad (for second Test): Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Nathan McSweeney, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster

India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar. Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed, Yash Dayal