How Australia could reshape side for Sydney

Debutants and bolters alike are in the frame to play the final NRMA Insurance Test of the summer with Australia certain to require replacements for injured duo Cameron Green and Mitchell Starc to face South Africa in Sydney.

Coach Andrew McDonald has flagged Lance Morris as a strong chance of playing at the SCG and also hinted a second spinner will be added to their squad, while Test great Ricky Ponting believes Aaron Hardie is a "smokey" if Australia want a like-for-like replacement for Green.

Green has already been ruled out of the final Test of the home season after breaking his right index finger while batting at the MCG, while Starc has suffered tendon damage to his left middle finger and could miss up to eight weeks, according to Fox Cricket’s Adam Gilchrist.

Both Starc and Green’s injuries are to their bowling hands.

Morris told cricket.com.au's Unplayable Podcast last week that he has been told selectors view him as a potential replacement for Starc given his ability to hit speeds up to 150kph.

"They see me as a strike bowler and I'm probably that replacement for someone like Mitchell Starc who's bowling fast and intimidating," said Morris, this season's leading Marsh Sheffield Shield wicket taker with 27 victims at 18.

"It sounds funny when I say it like that, because I can't believe we're actually in the same sentence to be honest. But that's the role that I would come into (if Starc were to miss a Test), I guess."

If South Africa dig in at the MCG and make Pat Cummins and Scott Boland (Australia’s only fully fit pacemen in the ongoing Test) bowl a significant number of overs in their second innings, Australia may need an attack overhaul in Sydney.

Josh Hazlewood is firming for a return having been close to playing in Melbourne after recovering from a side strain, while McDonald suggested Morris would also be squarely in the frame.

"There's clearly a role there for him (Morris) if Mitchell Starc was to go down," the coach told SEN on Wednesday morning. "He may be looking like he'll get an opportunity in Sydney depending on the balance of that attack."

The injury to Green, the fulcrum of the Australian side given his dual skills as a top-order batter and as a strong seam option, throws open a multitude of possibilities for how the hosts shape their XI.

Michael Neser, Sean Abbott or Ashton Agar are options to replace him to bat at No.7, where they often bat for their state teams, with wicketkeeper Alex Carey – who is averaging over 100 with the bat this summer – bumped up to Green's spot at six.

Neser would appear to lead that pack of bowling allrounders, having performed strongly in his Test recall against West Indies in Adelaide last month, snaring five wickets for the match, while he is also averaging over 40 with the bat in the Shield this season after hitting his second first-class century against NSW in October.

The inclusion of Hardie for Green on the other hand would allow Australia to replace their allrounder without changing the balance of their side.

The 23-year-old's averages of 27 with the bat and 43 with the ball in the Shield this season have not demanded selection, but selectors will not have forgotten that he scored an unbeaten 174 in Western Australia's Shield final victory earlier this year before registering three half-centuries on Australia A's tour of Sri Lanka.

"The most recognisable like-for-like I can think of for Cam Green’s replacement for Sydney is someone like Aaron Hardie," Ponting told Channel Seven.

"Very talented youngster, we’ve seen him make his mark on the shorter forms of the games so far, more so than anything else. He did get a hundred in the Shield final last year and can bowl some handy overs.

"Bit of a smokey there, but I’m happy to throw it out there."

Glenn Maxwell, who broke his leg last month, will be rueing the timing of his injury given he would have been in this conversation if fit.

A further consideration is the SCG pitch, often falsely touted as a spinner's paradise but which showed signs of recapturing that outdated reputation in its only Shield game so far this season when 21 of the 40 wickets fell to slow bowlers. 

"At the moment there's a bit of information that there will be a drier surface in Sydney," said McDonald. "You could see a spinner added (to the Test squad) over the next few days."

That opens the door for the likes of spinners Agar, Mitchell Swespon or Adam Zampa, with McDonald suggesting they will pick a spinner who will complement Nathan Lyon rather than necessarily the person they view as the next best spinner.

That may well have been a nod to Todd Murphy. There is a growing belief the Victorian off-spinner is Lyon's heir apparent, having been picked on the A tour of Sri Lanka as well as alongside Agar for the Prime Minister's XI game against the Windies last month, which was essentially another 'A' side.

Yet the similarity in the style of Murphy, who has taken 29 wickets at the enviable average of 25 from just seven first-class matches, to the incumbent Lyon may be a barrier to both playing in the same side.

"We always look to complement the attack, so it won't necessarily be the next best spinner," said McDonald. "A second spin role is also there to make sure you've got balance within the attack."

The other spinners in contention all turn their stock ball the opposite direction to Lyon's.

But as former Test tweaker Kerry O'Keefe points out, that was not an issue when Australia fielded dual leg-spinners Shane Warne and Stuart MacGill in the same side.

"Todd Murphy is the second-best spinner in the country," O'Keefe told Fox Cricket. "Would Australia go in with two off-spinners? They might not, but I would. I think you go in with your two best spinners as they did with Warne and MacGill."

Even if the SCG surface does not take spin, those considerations will come into play soon enough anyway given Australia's next Test assignment is a four-Test tour of India.

If Starc, Australia’s best reverse-swing bowler, requires a full eight weeks to recover from his injury, he may not be available for the start of the campaign that gets underway in Nagpur on February 9.

The cloud over Green only further underlines Australia’s need to stockpile as many wicket-taking strike weapons as they can for what will likely be low, turning pitches.