Richardson 'surprised' by Test elevation after slow build

Jhye Richardson admits he was a little surprised by his call up to the Australia squad for the Boxing Day Test but is feeling "really good" should an opportunity for an international comeback arise against India.

Richardson, who played for Perth Scorchers on Saturday in Hobart but will sit out Monday night's clash with Melbourne Renegades ahead of a potential Test return, was one of two new faces alongside teenage opener Sam Konstas named in a 15-player squad to take on India in the fourth Test.

The 28-year-old speedster went wicketless in the Scorchers' loss to the Hurricanes after earning player of the match honours for his 3-19 in their KFC BBL|14 season opening win over Melbourne Stars last Sunday.

Richardson's surprise over his elevation to the Test squad was more to do with his gradual build up to long-form cricket during the first half of the domestic season than anything else, as he's consistently proved when he does play that he's one of the most skilful bowlers in the country.

Just last Sunday, Richardson told reporters it was "unrealistic" for him to be thinking about a return to international cricket with his main focus getting a consistent run of matches under his belt.

"Even a week ago, I was like, 'I'm not really thinking about that just yet'," Richardson said on Fox Cricket during the Scorchers' clash with the Hurricanes on Saturday.

"I just wanted to stay on the park and play Big Bash cricket and make sure that the body was OK and keep ramping up (the workloads) and following the processes that we've got in place.

"But here we are, and if there's an opportunity, then it's obviously really exciting."

National men's selection chair George Bailey said Richardson had been added to the squad as an extra fast bowling option following a series-ending calf injury to Josh Hazlewood.

"It has been pleasing to see his successful return throughout the early part of the domestic summer," Bailey said of Richardson.

The right-armer has played just one four-day match this season, but his immense talent was immediately on display as he took consecutive wickets in his first over of Western Australia's pink-ball contest against South Australia at Adelaide Oval last month.

Richardson also took immense confidence from returning to bowl after dislocating his right shoulder celebrating the second of those wickets.

Such was his excitement with being on a hat-trick in his first over in the Sheffield Shield in almost a year, his third 'high five' with debutant Keaton Critchell caught his shoulder joint at a "weird angle" that resulted in dislocation.

Richardson left the field momentarily for treatment to put the shoulder back in place as Lance Morris completed a hat-trick of dismissals from the River End of Adelaide Oval by dismissing Jake Lehmann with his first ball of the match.

Richardson returned to bowl another 14 overs in the first innings to finish with 3-47, and sent down another 14 overs in the second innings for a return of 1-38.

His shoulder issue is just one of several injury challenges the three-Test quick has faced throughout his career, having surgery on the joint in 2020 and still being unable to throw the ball in from the boundary.

Richardson said he was pleased to be able to prove he could play out the match and have an impact despite dislocating his shoulder.

"I've worked really hard over the last few years to get it into a place where it's manageable," said Richardson last Sunday following the Scorchers' win over the Stars in the first game of the BBL|14 season.

"Obviously, surgery didn't quite go the way that we would have hoped but on the back of that I've worked really hard to find different ways to make it work.

"I'm obviously bowling it in from the boundary and I've gotten a run out bowling it in from the boundary.

"So I know that I can do it, and I know that I can find ways to get through and manage it.

"Now it's just about making sure that it doesn't happen again.

"But bowling there's no issue.

"I don't feel it at all bowling, like we saw the other week in the Shield game, I came out and I bowled 28 overs after that."

Despite playing two T20 matches for the Scorchers since his last first-class appearance, Richardson said it wouldn't be a big jump switching back into Test mode as most of his preparation and training so far this summer had focused on getting his body conditioned for the longer format.

Richardson missed the second half of last season after injuring his side midway through the Big Bash, and nine months earlier he'd undergone surgery on his hamstring after that injury cut short his previous summer.

His workloads have been carefully managed so far this summer, playing four of WA's five One-Day Cup matches and two second XI fixtures before his Shield return in November.

He then sat out their most recent Shield match before the Big Bash, which WA lost to NSW at the SCG.

"I'd probably argue that I've had less white-ball practice leading into this Big Bash," Richardson said.

"Having played a couple of second XI games and a Shield game, we've really been prioritising trying to build (my bowling) loads to get my body right for four-day cricket.

"So I'll probably find it easier to go back to red-ball cricket just from a preparation point of view."

The Test squad assembled in Melbourne on Sunday and will train at the MCG on Monday afternoon.

Emerging WA quick Bryce Jackson, who took 6-31 against South Australia in a one-dayer in September, has replaced Richardson in the Scorchers' squad to face the Renegades.

Scorchers squad v Renegades: Ashton Turner (c), Ashton Agar, Finn Allen (New Zealand), Jason Behrendorff, Cooper Connolly, Nick Hobson, Matthew Hurst (England), Josh Inglis, Bryce Jackson, Keaton Jennings (England), Matt Kelly, Lance Morris, Matthew Spoors, Andrew Tye

NRMA Insurance Men's Test Series v India

First Test: India won by 295 runs

Second Test: Australia won by 10 wickets

Third Test: Match drawn

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

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

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Travis Head (vc), Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Jhye Richardson, Steve Smith (vc), 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