Schutt's shoes to fill: Lanning mulls new-ball contenders

Who will fill the enormous shoes of Megan Schutt with the new ball is shaping as one of the most compelling questions ahead of Australia’s multi-format series against India, which begins next month.

Schutt has been a fixture of every Australia squad since 2014 but requested to sit out the upcoming matches against India, and instead will remain in Adelaide with her pregnant wife Jess, who is due in early November.

Her swing and canny variations have seen her rise to No.2 in the ICC’s ODI bowling rankings, and she has taken the new ball in every ODI and Test she has played since 2017.

For a long time, they were duties she shared with Ellyse Perry, but the star allrounder played a reduced role with the ball when she returned from a serious hamstring injury against New Zealand earlier this year.

Schutt instead shared the new ball with fiery quicks Tayla Vlaeminck and Darcie Brown across the six-game series.

The absence of the South Australian could therefore see Australia field two relatively green frontline pace bowlers against India’s star-studded top order, and Lanning said she was not yet sure who would open the bowling in the first ODI on September 19.

"There's no doubt that Megan not being there does leave a bit of a hole … she's such a consistent player so I will certainly miss her, but we've got a number of fast bowling options and we've been working on building depth in that area for a while now," Lanning said on Wednesday.

"Bringing Stella Campbell into the into the mix is really exciting, she brings some real genuine pace and bounce, and we have Darcie Brown who was in New Zealand not too long ago.

"You put that with Tayla Vlaeminck and Ellyse Perry and Annabel Sutherland (and) we feel like we've got some really good options there.

"To be honest, I haven't quite looked at who might take that that new ball, but the exciting thing is we've got so many options to look at and it just provides such a great opportunity for players to step up and see what they've got."

With the exception of Perry, who has 295 international caps to her name, the group of players vying for that new-ball role are relatively inexperienced.

Vlaeminck debuted in 2018 but injuries have limited to her 20 appearances in the green and gold, while Darcie Brown’s two matches to date came against New Zealand in April.

Annabel Sutherland has played nine games for Australia and opened the bowling alongside Schutt against New Zealand on home soil last October, when Perry and Vlaeminck were both sidelined through injury.

Tahlia McGrath played her first match for Australia since 2017 last October but was not called upon to bowl in that one-dayer against New Zealand, while Maitlan Brown and Stella Campbell are uncapped.

However, they make for an exciting group; Vlaeminck and Darcie Brown are both capable of exceeding 125kph, while Perry, Sutherland, Maitlan Brown and Campbell have all been clocked above 120kph.

Lanning backed Victoria teammate Vlaeminck to thrive under the added responsibility, as the 22-year-old aims to put together a full summer of cricket after being hampered by foot, knee and shoulder injuries across the past five years.

"I've seen Tayla up close over the last six months working on her physical ability and bowling skills … she certainly puts in a lot of hard work," Lanning said.

"She’s been very unlucky with the injuries so far in her career, and you just want her to have a really good run at it at some point.

"She's certainly in our plans to try and become a really important bowler for us, and has got some attributes that are very unique, and really challenge batters from different perspectives."

Speaking to media on Wednesday, national selector Shawn Flegler said the need to travel with a larger-than-usual squad due to the complexities of movement amid border closures had provided the opportunity to include 19-year-old Campbell, who got the nod over more experienced candidates including Sammy-Jo Johnson.

No Australia A tours have been held since the start of the pandemic, and the National Performance Squad program to develop young players has also been paused, so the chance to tour and train with the world’s best team would be invaluable experience.

"We've been trying to bring those (young bowlers) into the squad over the last 12 months to two years, to give them a little bit of experience," Flegler said, referencing the recent additions of Maitlan Brown, Darcie Brown and Hannah Darlington to the Australian group.

"Stella falls into that sort of group now as well.

"It’s an opportunity to bring her into the group and see how they operate and train."

With a multi-format Ashes series to come in January ahead of the ODI World Cup in New Zealand, opportunities for the expanded pace cartel could be abundant, with Flegler noting that managing the loads of the fast bowlers would be crucial.

"It’s a multi format series (against India) so there's plenty of overs to be bowled, and we need to make sure that we have our best bowlers available for the World Cup final in April as well," he added.

Commonwealth Bank Series v India

*Schedule is subject to change pending quarantine and border requirements

Australia squad: Meg Lanning (c), Rachael Haynes (vc), Darcie Brown, Maitlan Brown, Stella Campbell, Nicola Carey, Hannah Darlington, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy, Tahlia McGrath, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Georgia Redmayne, Molly Strano, Annabel Sutherland, Tayla Vlaeminck, Georgia Wareham

Sep 19: First ODI, North Sydney Oval (D/N)

Sep 22: Second ODI, Junction Oval

Sep 24: Third ODI, Junction Oval

Sep 30 – Oct 3: Test match, WACA Ground (D/N)

Oct 7: First T20, North Sydney Oval

Oct 9: Second T20, North Sydney Oval

Oct 11: Third T20, North Sydney Oval