Cartwright’s elevation surprises Henriques

Sydney Sixers captain Moises Henriques says he was surprised to learn of Hilton Cartwright's national call-up over Western Australia teammate Mitchell Marsh.

Cartwright was added to Australia's unchanged 12-man squad for the Boxing Day Test as an all-round option after the significant bowling workload taken on by pace trio Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Jackson Bird at the Gabba.

Quick Single: Marsh 'over the moon' for Cartwright

But Henriques thought Marsh's strike power with the ball might have seen him recalled to Australia's five-day outfit just two Tests after being dropped.

"It is a bit of a surprise given the way Mitch Marsh has been bowling," Henriques told cricket.com.au when he first heard of Cartwright's call up after the Sixers nine-wicket thrashing of the Sydney Thunder on Tuesday night. 

"I think whilst he hasn't been batting all that well, I feel like he's added a really good bowling option to that team.

"(The selectors) obviously wanted a slightly more batting allrounder.

"That's the balance of the team (the selectors want) and that's what they've gone for."

Quick Single: Cartwright lauded for courage and loyalty

Marsh's struggles with the bat at Test level are well documented but his right-arm fast-medium bowling had been his saving grace before the new-look selection panel axed the allrounder and opted for six specialist batsmen in the wake of the heavy loss to South Africa in Hobart last month.

While Cartwright's Sheffield Shield returns are modest this summer – 330 runs at 37 and four wickets at 75 from five matches – the strapping 24-year-old was included in Australia's one-day international squad for the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy against New Zealand three weeks ago.

However, his inclusion was more of an internship, sent home before the opening fixture at the Sydney Cricket Ground to play for Western Australia in the Shield.

Henriques said being around the Australia squad for perhaps the summer's most prized Test match will be a great experience in itself, let alone potentially playing.

"He's going to be a good player in the future," Henriques said of Cartwright. 

"It's a great opportunity for him to show his stuff on a great stage and it's a great process to be a part of leading into the Boxing Day Test, getting around the Test team for that.

"He'll love, he'll enjoy it and good luck to him."

Quick Single: Cartwright added for Boxing Day

If Cartwright makes his Test debut at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Boxing Day it will likely be at the expense of No.6 Nic Maddinson.

Maddinson has posted scores of zero, one and four since replacing Marsh in the final Test against the Proteas at the Adelaide Oval, with his final innings in Brisbane over quickly in search of quick runs.

While he's yet to put a score on the board like his fellow Adelaide debutants Matt Renshaw and Peter Handscomb, Maddinson is not far away from a big innings, according to Henriques.

"It was a very selfless thing to go out there and start trying to hook a ball off your nose from the third ball you face, but that's the type of player he is," Henriques said on the eve of the KFC Big Bash League opener at Spotless Stadium.

"If anything, that'll almost solidify a spot in the team, not that he was a failure but the fact that he'll play with the team's best interests at heart all the time.

"He's got the world at his feet and if he just keeps trusting his skill and trusting how good he is, I'm sure a big score's just around the corner.

"He is very resilient, I often forget he's only 24, 25. All he needs is 10, 15, 20 balls out in the middle for him to just feel comfortable out in the centre and from there I'm sure he'll start to relax and then a big innings will start to unfold."

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