Classy Pucovski hits high notes with Australia A

Boom rookie batsman Will Pucovski heads into Australia A's pivotal four-day campaign ahead of the Ashes in sparkling touch after scoring a brilliant century in Bristol on Tuesday.

Pucovski posted 137, his maiden List A hundred, opening the batting against Gloucestershire at The County Ground in Australia A's tense nine-run win as the tourists finished the one-day leg of their England campaign undefeated.

"It was tough work early," Pucovski told cricket.com.au after the match. "I was struggling to get going. 'Heady' (captain Travis Head with whom he shared a 267-run partnership) and I found a bit of flow through the middle period.

"It's always good to get the three figures as a batsman and put the team in what looked like a strong, winning position but the Gloucester boys batted well and made it a very interesting last five or six overs."

Attention now turns to the four-day leg of the six-week tour which will play a key role in determining the composition of the Ashes squad that will be named at the conclusion of the intriguing clash between Australia A and an Australian XI in Southampton from July 23-26.

The National Selection Panel, led by chairman Trevor Hohns who is with the A squad, would be thrilled by what it has seen during the one-day A series, with the batters picked in both white and red-ball squads firing on all cylinders.

Matt Wade scored 355 runs at an alarming rate, Travis Head finished with a brutal 138 in Bristol, Peter Handscomb averaged 120.5 while Mitch Marsh (126 runs in four innings) and Kurtis Patterson (26 in two) were not dismissed.

Throw in Pucovski, who had not faced a ball in a match until arriving in Bristol and finished with scores of 51 and 137, and it's a talented group putting their hands up at the right time.

Pucovski, 21, says he doesn't let selection faze him but he is excited about donning the whites for Australia A's first four-day match against Sussex in nearby Arundel from Sunday.

"I've always loved the four-day stuff so it will be good to get back into that," Pucovski said.

"The Dukes ball will do a bit which we've been using in the back half of Shield cricket to get used to it.

"But the Dukes ball in English conditions is another story. It will be good to get stuck in come Sunday."

Head, who spent more than two hours at the crease with Pucovski on Tuesday as they carved the Gloucestershire attack to pieces, was full of praise for the youngster.

"I think everyone in the dressing room, everyone in Australia knows how good he is and how bright his future is and how good he can be for Australia," Head told cricket.com.au.

"It was nice to see him get the runs in a different format from what he's done in the past 12 months to bang the door down for Test selection.

"It sets a great platform for him now heading into the four-dayers that he knows the conditions and the way you've got to get your runs over here is quite different.

"So it's nice he's got a couple of hits out in the middle on English wickets and holds him in good stead for the next couple of weeks."

Australia A tour of the UK

Get live scores and all the latest news from Australia A's tour of the UK on cricket.com.au and the CA Live app

Australia A one-day squad: Travis Head (c), Matthew Wade, Will Pucovski, Peter Handscomb, Mitch Marsh (vc), D'Arcy Short, Kurtis Patterson, Ashton Agar, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Josh Hazlewood (vc), Sean Abbott, Andrew Tye

Australia A four-day squad: Tim Paine (c), Marcus Harris, Kurtis Patterson, Will Pucovski, Travis Head (vc), Peter Handscomb, Matthew Wade, Mitch Marsh, Michael Neser, Jon Holland, James Pattinson, Jackson Bird, Josh Hazlewood (vc), Chris Tremain

One-day fixtures:

June 20: Australia A beat Northamptonshire by six wickets

June 23: Australia A beat Derbyshire by seven wickets

June 25: Australia A v Worcestershire, match abandoned

June 30: Australia A beat Gloucestershire by five wickets

July 2: Australia A beat Gloucestershire by nine runs

Four-day fixtures:

July 7-10: Australia A v Sussex, Arundel

July 13-16: Australia A v England Lions, Canterbury

July 23-26: Australia v Australia A, Hampshire