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Shield provides first Test clues

Rogers, Harris, Siddle push selection claims

Australia’s squad for the opening Test of the four-match Commonwealth Bank Test Series against India will be unveiled on Monday, with uncertainty surrounding a myriad of positions ranging from who will serve as captain through to the identity of the frontline spinner.

And while most of the aspiring candidates will have a final chance to push or undermine their claims for inclusion in the round of Bupa Sheffield Shield matches that begins on Tuesday, the National Selection Panel will have already cast their ballots before those games get underway.

Which means it was the performances in the Shield matches that concluded in Brisbane, Adelaide and Hobart today that will remain freshest in the panel’s collective thoughts when the names for the start of the series are inked in.

So what did we – along with NSP Chair Rod Marsh and his fellow selectors Trevor Hohns, Mark Waugh and Darren Lehmann – learn from those matches that might prove relevant to the make-up of Australia’s Test squad?

For openers

The debate as to who should partner David Warner at the top of Australia’s innings narrowed to a shoot-out between incumbent Chris Rogers and aspirant Phil Hughes in Victoria-South Australia match at Adelaide Oval.

The result was a clear win for the veteran, with Rogers posting a patient century in the Commonwealth Bank Bushrangers’ only innings and Hughes failing to reach a dozen in either of his knocks as the West End Redbacks crashed to an innings and 46 runs defeat.

Hughes continues to have strong support from many in Australian cricket, including former champion legspinner Shane Warne who this week called predicted the 25-year-old would be installed in the Test XI in place of Rogers. 

But given he has posted just one score of 50-plus (his 69 in the second innings of SA's loss to New South Wales earlier this month) and Rogers can claim three centuries in his past seven Tests, a change at the top of the order would be an investment in the future rather than a recognition of recent results.

The middle disorder

The failure of Australia’s batting in unfamiliar conditions against Pakistan last month has trained the spotlight on the best combination to not only tackle the Indians at home, but to be bedded down for the next Ashes series that awaits barely seven months down the track.

Alex Doolan was cast aside after he scored five and a duck in the first Test in the UAE, and he has failed to mount a convincing case for a recall having totalled 80 runs in his four innings for Tasmania since returning, including returns of 18 and 8 in his latest Shield outing in Hobart in recent days.

However, it is likely the make-up of Australia’s middle-order for the first Test that begins at the Gabba on December 4 will be influenced as much from decisions in the medical room as those made around the selection table.

Michael Clarke’s hamstring injury remains the greatest topic of national interest since the G20 summit and his availability or otherwise will have a significant knock-on effect for those who fill the other positions around his preferred number four berth.

Shane Watson looms as a possible number three having recovered from injury and struck cleanly in making 40 off 38 balls in today’s Carlton Mid Series ODI in Canberra, but he has played just one first-class match since last summer’s Ashes series – the final Test against South Africa in Cape Town in March this year.

Given that all-rounder Mitchell Marsh will be released from Australia’s ODI squad tomorrow to ensure he plays for the Alcohol. Think Again Warriors in their Shield match starting Tuesday, it would appear Watson could be included in the Test line-up as a specialist batsman.

His form for NSW in their upcoming match against the Redbacks might then dictate his place or otherwise in the final XI while another candidate for a middle-order berth – WA’s Shaun Marsh – has already notched a Shield century this summer and scored 19 and 41 in Hobart in recent days.

Victoria’s Peter Handscomb and South Australia’s Callum Ferguson both furthered their claims with centuries in the latest Shield fixture – the pair now have two Shield tons for the summer – but with Steve Smith locked in for the number five berth the scope of any shuffle will hinge on Clarke’s fitness.

For keeps

The injury speculation swirling around Clarke’s left leg has been good news for Test vice-captain Brad Haddin, as it means he is no longer the most heavily scrutinised out patient in Australian cricket.

It now seems increasingly likely that Haddin’s shoulder injury – sustained in the recent series in the UAE – will have recovered sufficiently for him to keep in the NSW Blues' upcoming Shield match against SA and, provided he does no further damage, in the subsequent first Test.

Which should mean one less conundrum for the selectors, given that Queensland veteran Chris Hartley – the sentimental favourite to fill Haddin’s gloves, certainly among fans north of the Tweed River – scored an untimely pair of ducks in the my FootDr Queensland Bulls' big win over the Blues.

Should Haddin fail to make muster, then South Australia’s Tim Ludeman looms as the in-form ‘keeper-batsman with a century and a second innings top score (38) in the match against Victoria, although current ODI ‘keeper Matthew Wade seems a more likely option if required.

The pace department

Just when it seemed Peter Siddle was once again being written off after an admittedly lean return in the UAE, he roared back into Test calculations by tearing through SA’s batting line-up to claim 5-31 on the notoriously fast bowler-unfriendly Adelaide Oval pitch today.

At roughly the same time, injured warrior Ryan Harris ensured his name would be high on the selectors' list - provided his recently rebuilt knee continues to behave itself - by ripping through NSW’s top order at the Gabba to finish with 4-59 and seven wickets for the match.

With Mitchell Johnson resting in Perth having been spelled for the remainder of the Carlton Mid ODI Series, it seems that Australia’s bowling attack for the opening Test against India might be the same as it trotted out for the first – and the subsequent four – Ashes Test last summer.

The change the panel is likely to consider is the inclusion of tall NSW quick Josh Hazlewood, who is currently part of the national ODI squad doing battle with South Africa.

Hazlewood starred for the Blues in last year’s Bupa Sheffield Shield final against WA and took a career best 5-31 in Sunday's one-day loss to the Proteas in Perth, and is the type of bowler who could exploit the Indian batsmen’s traditional discomfort on fast, bouncy pitches such as the Gabba.

Come in spinner

Despite a barren series in the UAE and just the one wicket for NSW at the Gabba over the past four days, Nathan Lyon is expected to retain his place in the Test XI for the opening Test at the same venue in a couple of weeks.

The fact that Lyon went wicketless in the first innings while his fellow Blues’ spinner Steve O’Keefe, who formed part of Australia’s dual spin combination in the first Test against Pakistan before being dropped for the second, captured 2-81 seems unlikely to sway a decisive vote in his favour.

Perhaps of greater interest to the selectors when they convene will be the case mounted by Bulls and Australian T20 legspinner Cameron Boyce who captured 3-48 (including Australian representatives Lyon and Sean Abbott for ducks) in NSW’s second innings today.

While India’s batsmen are renowned for their capabilities against spin bowling, they do not see as much wrist spin as they do the finger variety, especially in Australian conditions that offer a bit of additional pace and bounce for leggies.

And it’s for that reason that Warne used to cite the Gabba as his favourite Australian ground – and one of his favourites in the world – on which to practice his mesmeric craft.