The text driving Webster towards Baggy Green dream

Often when Beau Webster plays well – a frequent occurrence of late given his rise to Australia’s Test squad – he'll receive just a one-word text from his mates: "Garfield".

While he admits it's a little embarrassing, he happily takes it as recognition for one of the greatest Sheffield Shield seasons of all-time – the type of form which has put him on the cusp of a Test debut against India.

The new nickname is a result of Webster's 938-run and 30-wicket effort last Shield season which helped lift Tasmania into the final and earned him player of the year honours.

Such was the 31-year-old's all-round dominance that only one other player in the competition's 132-year history has crossed the 900-run and 30-wicket threshold in a single campaign.

His name – Sir Garfield (Garry) Sobers.

The West Indies great achieved the feat (973 runs and 47 wickets) in South Australia's title-winning 1963-64 season, the last of his three summers representing the state.

"It was pretty special, no doubt," Webster recalled to cricket.com.au ahead of his elevation to the Australia squad for the second Test in Adelaide.

"I suppose a little bit embarrassing when you get likened to someone like that.

"I always get a text from some of the boys around the country if I do well, just the one word: 'Garfield'.

"But it's some good praise and I'll take it.

"I feel like I've been playing my best cricket in the last two to three years and to bring it all together last year was great to get us into a Shield final.

"The main goal is to win one of those."

Another ambition is earning a prized Baggy Green cap, which for Webster, is closer than it's ever been after he was called into the Test squad last Thursday as cover for Mitch Marsh who pulled up sore following Australia's 295-run loss in Perth.

The Tasmanian allrounder only took up pace-bowling full-time four years ago, but he's quickly risen to Marsh's red-ball understudy after Cameron Green underwent back surgery that ruled him out of the home international summer.

Marsh batted at training on Tuesday and told Nine News after arriving at Adelaide Airport the previous evening that he'd "be good to go" for the second Test on Friday.

Barring any mishaps at training this week, it leaves Webster waiting a bit longer for a Test debut, but he'll likely remain with the squad for the next match in Brisbane with only a four-day turnaround between Tests.

"Every (Australian) cricketer would be lying if they didn't say they wanted to wear the Baggy Green," Webster said of his selection last Thursday.

"I'm not there yet but it's nice to be in and around … the Test set-up.

"There's a tight turnaround between Adelaide and the Gabba Tests so I think (I've been called in) just to have some cover there for that middle-order role, whichever way they go."

Webster batted with his typical flamboyance against Nathan Lyon and a handful of net bowlers at training on Tuesday as he continues to press his case, while he also posed plenty of questions for Steve Smith nibbling the ball around with his seamers.

Like Sobers, Webster is a versatile allrounder with both pace and finger spin in his repertoire (the Barbadian could also bowl left-arm wrist spin as well as orthodox spin and seam).

He'd didn't bowl his off-spin – his delivery of choice in junior ranks and the first six years of his professional career – across his first two days training with the Australian squad but remains open to doing so at international level if required.

But given all his 27 wickets for Tasmania and Australia A so far this summer have come bowling medium-pace, Webster reckons he'll have most of his impact off the long run if the chance arises for an international debut.

Having emerged from the southern Tasmanian coastal town of Snug to represent Tasmania Under-19s at just 14 years old alongside his older brother Jordan, Webster has long been touted as a future star.

He made his Shield debut at 20 after amassing almost 1000 runs in a season for his Premier Cricket club Kingborough and the state's second XI and U19 sides.

Webster batted mostly at No.3 but was also tried as an opener and in the middle-order throughout his first six seasons at state level and it wasn't until he transitioned to a fully-fledged pace-bowling allrounder ahead of the 2020-21 summer that he truly found a home in Tasmania's line-up.

In the four-and-a-bit years since, Webster has averaged almost 50 in first-class cricket with seven centuries, with only Western Australians Cameron Bancroft (3041) and Sam Whiteman (2811) and Victorian Peter Handscomb (2715) scoring more Sheffield Shield runs.

The Tasmanian has also taken 104 first-class wickets (100 with pace and four with spin) in the same period and is the only player in both the top 15 Shield run-scorers and wicket-takers in the past five seasons.

"I felt really good throughout the whole (2023-24 season)," he said.

"It's probably been my biggest knock, my consistency over my career and the last three to four years, I've really started to bring it all together.

"Last year with both bat and ball was really pleasing … hopefully it holds me in good stead for the rest of my career."

Much like Sobers could, Webster's ability to alter the course of a match off his own bat has been a feature of his stunning surge into national contention.

Four of his past eight first-class centuries have bettered 150, remaining unbeaten in three of those and adding more than 100 runs with the final three batters in all four innings.

The most notable of those knocks, and the one he's most fond of from his record-breaking season, was his incredible 167 not out in the penultimate round against Victoria that clinched Tasmania's spot in the 2023-24 Shield final.

The Tigers were 4-47 in their second innings leading by 181 when Webster arrived at the crease before slipping further into trouble at 9-154 when he was joined by No.11 Riley Meredith on a Bellerive Oval pitch beginning to flatten out.

With a win to put either state on top of the standings with one game remaining, Webster counter-attacked with 22 fours and four sixes in his 180-ball knock, putting on 153 with Meredith (44) for the final wicket.

They took the lead to 441 when Meredith was dismissed for his career-best score, which Victoria got with 57 runs of overhauling.

"We were up against it, and we needed one win to get into a Shield final and two to host it," Webster recalled.

"Riley Meredith came together at nine for not many and I think we ended up putting on a record partnership for Tasmania … that was pleasing to be able to counterattack and get us into a position to win that game.

"(Batting with the lower order) works in my favour.

"They obviously want to bowl to the tail, so they do bowl more scoring balls, which feeds into my game.

"I always want to be scoring and putting pressure back on the bowlers.

"They're trying to get me off strike as much as they are trying to get me out, so it does feed into my game plan, and I've had a lot of success with a bit of counterpunching."

He carried that form into the English county season with Gloucestershire where he averaged 58 in four matches and claimed his first and second five-wicket hauls before returning home to start the current Shield season with another century against Victoria in round one.

He also produced unbeaten second innings knocks (46no and 61no) in last month's series against India A, guiding Australia A to victory in both matches to reinforce his status as one of the nation's most impactful players.

"To get a few runs and wickets (for Australia A) was pleasing against a strong Indian side," Webster said.

"Any time you're playing 'A' cricket, it's the one step below Test level, so it does hold you in good stead.

"The whole setup makes you hungry to get to that next level."

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