Five potential stars to watch this summer

With a tense win over India A on Sunday, Australia A made it three wins from their three four-day games in the winter series in Queensland and a number of hopefuls have put their names forward for a Test berth this summer.

There’s been no shortage of standout performances in the two first-class matches against South Africa A last month and the first of two four-dayers against India A.

And with Australia desperate to improve on their most recent Test series result, a 3-0 whitewash in Sri Lanka, the players who have impressed up north could well find themselves handed a Baggy Green in the coming months.

With that in mind, we’ve taken a closer look at five uncapped players who have impressed in the four-day games and could be in line to make their Test debuts in 2016-17.

Cameron Bancroft 

The young opener was named in Australia’s squad for the Test tour of Bangladesh last year but was denied the chance to receive a Baggy Green when the trip was cancelled due to security concerns. 

Undeterred, Bancroft responded by amassing 732 Sheffield Shield runs last season, adding three more centuries to his overall first-class tally of seven tons. 

And the patient right-hander sent timely reminders of his prowess at the crease with a composed 71 against South Africa A last month, before impressing again against India A on Sunday.

With wickets tumbling around him, Bancroft played a steady hand on the final day in Brisbane, weathering some formidable bowling from the tourists to lead his side to a tense three-wicket win and finishing unbeaten on 58.

Asked if his knock could vault him back into national contention, the 23-year-old was typically candid in responding, “it wasn’t a hundred, so probably not”. 

But even if he isn’t buying his own hype, Bancroft’s name will undoubtedly be on the selector’s lips this summer.

Peter Handscomb 

The fleet-footed right-hander is seemingly the talk of Australian cricket at the moment, after backing up an excellent 137 against South Africa A in Townsville with an assured 87 against India A at Allan Border Field last week.

Since making his first-class debut in 2011, Handscomb has developed a reputation as one of the nation’s leading young players of spin-bowling.

A breakout summer which yielded 784 runs in the Shield, third amongst the leading run-makers in 2015-16, had him tipped as a smoky for the Test leg of Australia’s recent Qantas Tour of Sri Lanka.

He wasn’t chosen for that trip but after his countrymen again found the going tough in the spin-friendly conditions of the subcontinent, selector Rod Marsh foreshadowed a different approach to picking sides to play in subsequent tours to Asia.

Namely, that batsmen with the ability to handle high-quality tweakers on turning tracks would be preferred over those who are deemed more suited to the generally fast and bouncy wickets produced in Australia.

With that in mind, it appears Handscomb should be well-and-truly on the radar for a Test berth, if not for the upcoming home Tests, then perhaps in February, when Australia will again confront their spin demons on their four-Test tour of India.

Marcus Stoinis 

A powerful right-handed batsman and sharp pace-bowler, Stoinis has the makings of a devastating Test allrounder.

His brutal 120 in the first four-dayer against South Africa A, then four wickets in the second match, including Proteas Test batsmen Dean Elgar and Temba Bavuma suggests Stoinis isn’t far off a Test berth if a spot becomes available.

The 27-year-old’s skills in limited-overs cricket have earnt him a taste of international cricket, making his ODI and T20I debuts against England last year.

And a stellar Indian Premier League campaign for Kings XI Punjab that netted him 146 runs at 36, eight wickets at 24 and two man-of-the-match awards in seven games again put Stoinis’ white-ball skills on show.

But with an impressive Sheffield Shield season, that saw him finish alongside Travis Head as the only players among the top-10 leading run-scorers who’d also taken more than five wickets, behind him and his eye-catching performances in the winter ‘A’ series, Stoinis has made a strong case to be current Test allrounder Mitch Marsh’s understudy.

Joe Mennie 

Having barged the door down at domestic level for so long, Redbacks seamer Joe Mennie finally got recognition for being one of the Sheffield Shield’s most consistent bowlers with selection in Australia’s squad for their upcoming ODI tour of South Africa.

That came on after back-to-back five-wicket hauls against South Africa A in the Queensland Quadrangular ‘A’ series.

The Proteas batsmen had few answers for the nagging quick, who snared 12 wickets at a tick more than 12 in the two match-series, and even pitched in with an unbeaten half-century in the first game in Brisbane.

With 51 scalps, Mennie was comfortably last season’s leading Shield wicket-taker and now holds an enviable first-class average of 26.68.

The Coffs Harbour-product doesn’t possess out-and-out pace but he makes up for it with unrelenting accuracy and the ability to extract a hint of movement out of even the most lifeless of surfaces.

With a number of key fast-bowlers sidelined with injury, strong showings under the nose of new Australia assistant coach David Saker and guest fast-bowling mentor Ryan Harris in South Africa could well put the 27-year-old in the mix for a Test debut this summer.

Chris Tremain 

After day two of Australia A’s first match against South Africa A, Tremain quipped that "bowlers are like snowflakes – no two are the same."

And with an unusual, whippy action that generates speeds in excess of 140kph, the 25-year-old is living proof of his profound statement.

Having crossed the Murray River in 2014 to join the Commonwealth Bank Bushrangers after making his first-class debut with New South Wales two years earlier, Tremain flourished under the tutelage of then-Victoria coach Saker.

The right-armer took 36 wickets at 21.05 to form a key pillar in the Bushrangers’ successful Shield title defence.

And an emphatic five-wicket haul against South Africa A in Brisbane helped book his spot on the plane to South Africa alongside Mennie for the ODI series.

With speedsters James Pattinson, Pat Cummins and Nathan Coulter-Nile all recovering from injury, don’t be surprised if Tremain is handed a Baggy Green this summer if Australia look to inject some more pace into their Test bowling-attack.