Quantcast

Lehmann remains coy on Test XI

Antigua warm-up reaffirmed Josh Hazlewood is a star on the rise but selectors appear no closer to deciding on bowling attack

Darren Lehmann says selectors will wait until early next week to make up their minds about Australia's XI for the first Test against the West Indies in Dominica.

The Aussies completed their only warm-up match of the tour in Antigua on Friday, a three-day game against a West Indies President's XI that ended in a draw.

The wicket at Windsor Park in Roseau has traditionally favoured the slower bowlers, meaning a dual spin attack of Nathan Lyon and the uncapped Fawad Ahmed is a possiblity for the first of two Tests in the battle to retain the Frank Worrell Trophy.

Lehmann and selector-on-duty Mark Waugh walked laps of the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium together on Friday, but the coach gave little away after play about the make-up of the XI for the Test.

Australia's alternative bowling unit?

He gave a mixed report on the performance of Lyon and Ahmed – who bowled better than their combined match figures of 4-232 suggest – and said conditions would delay a final decision until closer to the match.

"I think they bowled really good spells at certain stages and probably not as well as they would have liked, or the captain would have liked, at certain stages either," Lehmann said of the spinners.

"I think it's going to have to be a late call.

"I'd love to give you the side earlier, but it's going to have to be a late call because this pitch here (in Antigua) changed quite a lot in the 24 hours leading up to the tour game.

"So it's going to be a really tight call either way we go."

The only hint Lehmann gave was him reaffirming a desire to play five bowlers, meaning at least one of allrounders Shane Watson and Mitchell Marsh will get the nod.

Watson missed the match in Antigua after he arrived late in the Caribbean due the birth of his second child, but Lehmann had been pleased with the work the 33-year-old has done in the nets since he landed on Wednesday.

Day three highlights for Australia

Ditto star fast-bowlers Mitchell Starc and Mitchell Johnson, who were also rested from the warm-up match meaning they will enter the first Test having not played a game of red-ball cricket for almost five months.

Lehmann said the standout performance of Josh Hazlewood against the President's XI – the quick finished with match figures of 5-40, including 10 maidens – created another headache for selectors.

"We know how good a bowler he is but it's always nice for him to get wickets in that scenario and keep pushing his case forward," Lehmann said.

"He's a great young man. So from our point of view it gives us great headaches leading into the Test match with selection because until we see the pitch we don't really know the make-up or the best make-up to get 20 wickets."

Lehmann said he was happy with the output of his bowlers in Antigua but was disappointed some of his frontline batsmen, notably Chris Rogers, Michael Clarke and Brad Haddin, were unable to get much time in the middle after falling cheaply in their only innings of the match.

The two batsmen who adjusted the best to the conditions were Western Australian duo Shaun Marsh (118) and Adam Voges (52), who are both fighting for a berth in the middle order.

Australia will make the short flight to Dominica on Saturday before the first Test starts on Wednesday.