Aussies face selection squeeze for WTC final, Caribbean Tests

A day after securing a Test series clean sweep with some bold selection calls, national men's team coach Andrew McDonald has flagged the likelihood of a similar horses-for-courses approach to the group's next red-ball assignment.

McDonald indicated the squad chosen for the World Test Championship final against South Africa at Lord's in June will be different to the touring party that heads to the Caribbean for a three-match campaign against West Indies immediately after.

The national selection panel, comprising chair George Bailey, Tony Dodemaide and McDonald, has shown their willingness to significantly change the line-up in the recent past with impressive results.

Three debutants were introduced during the home summer's Border-Gavaskar Trophy triumph over India (Nathan McSweeney, Sam Konstas and Beau Webster), with Josh Inglis and Cooper Connolly receiving their Baggy Green Caps in Sri Lanka.

While injuries kept fast bowlers Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood out of the Sri Lanka series that Australia won 2-0 yesterday, the selectors have also made tough calls to leave out allrounder Mitch Marsh and off spinner Todd Murphy from recent Tests.

But prior to Australia's Test-only players heading home from Galle and members of the ODI squad travelling to Colombo for a two-game limited overs series starting Wednesday, McDonald foreshadowed a more 'traditional' outfit for the WTC final.

"We've had a bit of chat around it," McDonald said of the next Test assignment, which will be preceded by the ICC Champions Trophy tournament in Pakistan and the UAE then the annual IPL window.

"But it would be different from England to the West Indies I'd imagine.

"England creates a different challenge then off to the West Indies, which can spin, and can also swing and seam.

"So we'll make those decisions when we get to it.

"The beauty of it is we've got some time before we have to make those decisions.

"It's great to have that depth there, it's great to have options."

McDonald conceded fitness factors and the conditions that are expected to prevail at the West Indies Test venues (Barbados, Grenada and Jamaica) will play a large part in the make-up of the touring parties.

But the success of the recent changes in personnel coupled with the imminent return of sidelined players such as Cummins, Hazlewood and allrounder Cameron Green has created a selection squeeze.

The performances of Inglis (century on debut) and left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann (series leading wicket-taker) in Sri Lanka has them in the frame, while Konstas has already been mentioned as a potential re-inclusion at Lord's.

It seems unlikely Connolly and perhaps Murphy would be factors in the Caribbean unless pitches are expected to spin sharply, and seamer Scott Boland will come back into consideration having missed both Tests in Sri Lanka after being player of the match in the final match against India in Sydney.

"There will be a squeeze, and whoever misses out will be very unlucky," McDonald said.

"And it's no different to the bowling space - Scott Boland is entitled to think that he should start in every Test match as well, and it's a really good problem to have.

"May it long continue to put tough decisions on the selection panel, and hopefully we get them right."

In the meantime, the selectors' conundrum is how best to balance the need for rest among some members of the Test series win who are also part of the white-ball squad in Sri Lanka alongside a raft of new faces that have been added.

The injuries that forced skipper Cummins, Hazlewood and Marsh out of the Champions Trophy, along with the shock retirement of Marcus Stoinis from ODI cricket last week, has brought significant changes to the touring party.

With the final 15-man squad for the Champions Trophy to be confirmed in coming days, explosive batter Jake Fraser-McGurk, pace bowlers Spencer Johnson and Ben Dwarshuis plus leg spinner Tanveer Sangha have arrived in Sri Lanka for the ODIs in Colombo.

In addition, Test squad members Sean Abbott and Connolly will remain with the touring party for those games.

No decision has yet been announced on who will captain the team in Cummins' absence, with stand-in Test skipper Steve Smith and his deputy Travis Head vying for the role.

Smith said in the wake of yesterday's nine-wicket Test victory the pain he felt in his recently injured right elbow when he hurled a ball from the infield wasn't as severe as the initial damage caused last month, and his recovery time should be relatively short.

But McDonald said whoever is appointed to lead the Champions Trophy campaign would play at least one of the ODIs against Sri Lanka "to get a feel of the rhythm of one-day cricket" after a seven-Test summer at home and abroad.

He also expected all Test players named in the ODI squad would play at least one of the two matches in Colombo before the team departs for Pakistan on the weekend.

McDonald cited the example of Australia's five-game ODI hit-out in South Africa prior to the 2023 World Cup – in which auxiliary players Michael Neser, Tim David, Nathan Ellis and Sangha played central roles – as a portent for what might unfold in Sri Lanka.

"You want to play to win, there's no doubt about that because winning form always helps the confidence of a group," he said of the preparations for the Champions Trophy campaign that begins against England at Lahore on February 22.

"But there will definitely be some options that we look at, how we go about it - what the structure of the top three (batting) looks like without Mitch Marsh there.

"And the bowling dynamic completely changes, it's almost a whole new attack so we have to work out how that functions as well.

"There will definitely be some things that we look at.

"The consideration is the conditions (in Colombo) are potentially somewhat different to what we get in Pakistan.

"Last time we came here (in 2022) it spun square in the one-day series, so hopefully they’re flatter surfaces for us to prepare, but who knows."

Australia squad for ODIs in Sri Lanka: Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Aaron Hardie, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Matthew Short, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa.

Qantas Tour of Sri Lanka

First Test: Australia win by an innings and 242 runs

Second Test: Australia win by nine wickets

Sri Lanka Test squad: Dhananjaya de Silva (c), Dimuth Karunaratne, Pathum Nissanka (subject to fitness), Oshada Fernando, Lahiru Udara, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Kamindu Mendis, Kusal Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Sonal Dinusha, Prabath Jayasuriya, Jeffrey Vandersay, Nishan Peiris, Asitha Fernando, Vishwa Fernando, Lahiru Kumara, Milan Rathnayake

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

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

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

Sri Lanka ODI squad: TBC

Australia ODI squad: Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Aaron Hardie, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Matthew Short, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa.