'Might never happen again': Webster's extraordinary debut

Three days ago, Beau Webster arrived at the SCG thinking his wait for a Baggy Green would go on. On Sunday afternoon, the allrounder hit the boundary that clinched Australia the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the first time in a decade.

Webster's debut was so unexpected that his parents Rob and Tina had to post on a Hobart community Facebook page to source a dog-sitter for his two labradors that they had been looking while he shadowed the Test side.

By the end of the fifth NRMA Insurance Test, captain Pat Cummins declared him as deserving of the player-of-the-match award as the actual recipient, Scott Boland.

The 31-year-old finished the low-scoring contest with twice as many runs (96 – 57 in the first innings and 34no in the second) as Australia's next best contributor (Sam Konstas with 45 runs across both innings).

"I'm a bit speechless, honestly," Webster told cricket.com.au after Australia's six-wicket win saw the scoreline set at 3-1. "If you told me a week ago that all this would happen in the last few days, I wouldn't have believed you.

"It's been a dream debut and to get the win there inside three days is a hell of a feeling. I'm sure the boys will celebrate accordingly.

"When I hit that cut-shot boundary, I saw we only needed four (to win) and I thought, 'It's got to be one of these two balls – how many chances are you going to get to hit a boundary for the winning runs for your country?'

"I was going to go no matter where that ball was, that last one, and managed to make connection. I looked straight at 'Heady' (batting partner Travis Head) and he was up and about.

"It was a great moment, probably one I'll never forget.

"That's something that might never happen again – especially a boundary on the fifth Test of a decider. It doesn't get much better than that."

Webster paid tribute to the man he replaced in Australia's XI, Mitch Marsh, who had been the one to tell him he would be making his debut.

The Tasmanian was not originally going to take part in an optional training session the day before the Test, but then felt obligated to have a quick hit after he learnt of his inclusion.

"It was a bit of an awkward moment. I sort of came to training at the last minute, and I didn't think that they'd change the team," said Webster.

"I hadn't heard anything right up until the training (the day) before the game, and I just expected it to be the same XI. Then we got to the ground and asked Mitch what he was doing, and he said, 'I'm waiting to see if I'm playing'.

"That hit me by surprise a little bit and then in the next hour or so, we were fumbling around until I went back in the changerooms and he (Marsh) had a big grin on his face and just said, 'You're in mate'.

"And he couldn't have been happier. He's been unbelievable this week.

"It is always awkward when you're trying to force your way in the team, it does mean someone gets left out. But he's been high class, he's been around my family, he's been unbelievable. It speaks volumes of the bloke."

Webster's bowling was also a major asset in Sydney given they were carrying three sore pace bowlers into the match, particularly Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc who were both featuring in their fifth consecutive Test.

The right-armer could have had three wickets for the match had Steve Smith and Nathan Lyon held on to catches behind the wicket. He got his first victim when Alex Carey took a smart catch off Shubman Gill in the second innings.

In the ongoing absence of Cameron Green, Webster's catching in the slips was also welcome, taking two smart chances at third slip.

It would appear to leave him as a certain starter for the upcoming two-Test tour of Sri Lanka.

"Beau was huge his Test," said Cummins. "He's one of those quintessential allrounders where you feel like they're going to contribute in every facet of the game.

"That's what he does for Tasmania. He proved this Test match – really important overs, he bowled beautifully, took some great catches and two really important knocks.

"He couldn't have had a better debut. He was right beside Scotty as player-of-the-match."

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: Australia won by 184 runs

Fifth Test: Australia won by six wickets

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Travis Head (vc), 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