O'Keefe in, Siddle out for SCG Test

NSW spinner Stephen O'Keefe has been named in Australia's XI for the New Year's Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground starting tomorrow.

O'Keefe replaces Victorian quick Peter Siddle as the only change to the team that beat the West Indies by 177 runs in Melbourne. 

Siddle's hasn't fully recovered from the ankle injury he sustained in the Boxing Day Test, and "still isn't 100 per cent" according to skipper Steve Smith.

"He (Siddle) felt it wasn't best for him to come into this Test match the way he is at the moment," Smith said.

"He's a great team man and felt he would be letting the team down (if he played).

"We were probably going to go the two spinners option anyway."

Smith expects the pitch to turn, noting the wicket "looks quite dry".

"So I think it'll take some spin," he said.

"Peter Siddle is still a little bit sore.

"He'll have a rest for a couple of weeks and hopefully get himself right for (the upcoming tour of) New Zealand." 

Image Id: ~/media/EC1D2AEC8146415A93C9B41729334A83

The SCG pitch on match eve // cricket.com.au

It will be the first time in a decade Australia will play two specialist spin bowlers at home after leg-spinners Shane Warne and Stuart MacGill bowled in concert against South Africa in January 2006.

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Tomorrow will see O'Keefe partner Nathan Lyon in the spin ranks, and the left-arm orthodox is confident the pair can succeed in tandem.

"I enjoy playing with Nathan, he is a humble, lovely guy who I admire a lot and fingers crossed we can get that opportunity again," O'Keefe said on Friday.

"The year we won the Shield we had some good performances and to play two spinners in a Shield final is a pretty cool thing to happen I guess.

"There are a couple of situations we have bowled the majority of the overs and enjoyed going each side of the bat."

O'Keefe, 31, played one Test in October 2014 against Pakistan in Dubai, claiming four wickets in the 221-run loss.

He was named in Australia's Test squad to travel to Bangladesh in October last year before the tour was cancelled due to safety concerns. 

The left-armer has taken 17 wickets at 25 in the Sheffield Shield this summer, and was included in the Test squad for the historic day-night Test. 

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Australia XI: David Warner (vc), Joe Burns, Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith (c), Adam Voges, Mitchell Marsh, Peter Nevill (wk), James Pattinson, Stephen O'Keefe, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon 

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