Test line-up hints in Aussies' Dubai match prep

Australia's Dubai training exercise moved into match mode today, with a centre-wicket practice session at the ICC Academy potentially providing a few hints on how the men's Test team might line-up in Sri Lanka.

While any suggestion of hard-core match simulation was mitigated by the sight of assistant coach Michael DiVenuto lining up at second slip with a baseball mitt on one hand and a takeaway coffee cup in the other, there was undeniable method to what took place in the middle.

Regular opener Usman Khawaja was partnered by long-standing number-three batter Marnus Labuschagne against the new ball this morning, with Khawaja's incumbent opening partner Sam Konstas not called upon into action until afternoon.

After Khawaja and Labuschagne had batted for an hour on a pre-ordered pitch that offered noticeable movement for the seamers as well as appreciable bounce and spin, the next centre-wicket batting slots were filled by Travis Head, Josh Inglis and Nathan McSweeney.

Head has been touted as a potential opener given he filled that role in three Tests on spin-friendly surfaces in India in 2023, with a view that his unbridled strokeplay is most effective when the ball is hard and the field is up.

But the fact he was utilised as a middle-order option today – where he showed the same intent by aiming a huge (if unsuccessful) cover drive at the first ball he faced in his hour-long batting stint – raised speculation he may remain in his more customary role.

The notable absentee from today's five-hour session under clear skies in Dubai, where the winter temperature is a more manageable 23C most days, was stand-in Test skipper Steve Smith who continues his recovery from an elbow injury sustained last week.

Smith revealed yesterday he would ease back into batting over coming days ahead of his team's arrival in Sri Lanka on Friday, and headed to the adjacent Academy nets as Khawaja and Labuschagne took strike this morning.

However, he returned to the main arena a few minutes later and could be seen flexing and feeling his sore right elbow before assuming his regular fielding position at first slip.

Smith was joined in behind-the-wicket catching duties by towering allrounder Beau Webster who displayed his slips credentials during his Test debut against India at the SCG earlier this month.

When Head, Inglis and McSweeney began their time in the middle, Smith joined Khawaja in the nets and spent almost an hour batting against local spinners without showing any major signs of discomfort.

The initial new-ball duties were shared by Scott Boland and Sean Abbott, with Mitchell Starc restricted to walking a few gentle laps and fielding the occasional ball at long-on having flown into Dubai on Tuesday afternoon.

Nathan Lyon bowled a lengthy spell immediately after the two seamers, in tandem with 21-year-old uncapped allrounder Cooper Connolly.

However, it's likely that pairing reflected the batters' need to face regular rotation between right and left-arm finger spinners given it's the latter threat that looms largest from the home team in the two Tests starting at Galle next Wednesday (Jan 29).

When the spinners were operating, plastic chairs were deployed in the role of close-catchers stationed either side of the pitch.

Off-spinner Todd Murphy was then paired with Webster against the middle-order batting trio, with Webster reverting to his more recent skills set of medium-pace bowling having yesterday dusted off the finger spin he bowled at the outset of his career.

Men's team coach Andrew McDonald monitored today's proceedings from behind the bowlers, with fellow national selector Tony Dodemaide also helping out in the field while assistant coach Dan Vettori acted as notional umpire.

Konstas meanwhile began the day engaging in a series of catching drills with Australia assistant coach Andre Borovec before spending the subsequent two-hour session solely as a fielder.

The 19-year-old's occasional exhortation to teammates in front of a handful of security guards who made up the crowd - in a city where cricket remains something of a curiosity despite being the global body's home base - represented a sharp contrast to his ebullient Test debut less than a month ago.

His first significant involvement in today's session came after both groups of batters had finished, and tailenders Lyon, Boland and Murphy were subjected to suffocation by spin.

The trio took turns batting while surrounded by six close catchers (including Konstas) while trying to defend against the probing spin sent down by McDonald, Head and New Zealand's most-successful Test tweaker, Vettori.

Konstas finally got his chance to bat in the second half of today's session, when he, Webster and keeper Alex Carey faced Boland and Abbott in their second spells albeit with the pace duo armed with well-worn balls.

That would seem to indicate the Australia brainstrust sees the teenager's likely role in the upcoming Tests at Galle as a lower middle-order batter, rather than tackling the new ball at the top.

Regardless of his role, it seems his teammates don't expect the innovative right-hander to change his approach.

As Konstas prepared to face his first delivery this afternoon, Labuschagne – who was headed to the nets, and clearly referenced the now-famous reverse ramp Konstas unveiled against India's Jasprit Bumrah on Boxing Day – yelled excitedly "no third man, no third man".

However, Konstas's belated innings today which also featured lengthy stints against the spin of Murphy and Head, was a hybrid of studied defence and traditionally textbook strokes.

Qantas Tour of Sri Lanka

Australia Test squad: Steve Smith (c), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Travis Head (vc), Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Matt Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Nathan McSweeney, Todd Murphy, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster

First Test: January 29-February 2, Galle (3.30pm AEDT)

Second Test: February 6-10, Galle (3.30pm AEDT)

First ODI: February 12, Colombo (3.30pm AEDT)

Second ODI: February 14, Colombo (3.30pm AEDT)