As the summer ended, they were helped by bowler-friendly conditions at home and in New Zealand, where none of the seven matches reached the fifth week. In just three of the innings, Australia needed to bowl more than 78 overs, which helped them stay intact.
However, the Republic of India’s strict batting line-up poses a different problem with Australia expected to struggle in the then form of five matches played over seven weeks. There are questions over whether or not Cummins, Starc and Hazlewood can reflect what they did at the end of the season and play in what must be grueling form.
Australia’s time intensity has been scrutinized with several long-serving fringe bowlers due to accidents. Fast Lance Morris, uncapped at Test level but a familiar member of the team over the last few years, suffered a shocking setback having suffered a quadruple strain in training recently, but had to return before the end of the hour.
“If you look at last year’s quicks, we were certainly prepared that they wouldn’t be able to play all the Tests and they did,” George Bailey, Australia’s chairman of selectors, said on Monday.
“Potentially, that could have been an outlier and again this summer we will be prepared so that if we need to make some adjustments over the summer, we will be ready to go.”
“Someone like Cam basically started out in Shield cricket as a bowler, but he hasn’t had to play much in Test matches. Now that he’s a few years older, I think we’ll lean on him a bit more,” Cummins said in August.
If the selectors decide on a similar replacement, the next Aaron Hardie and Beau Webster could be in the picture. Hardie did not play matches in the first safety round due to a quad injury he suffered at the end of the England tour, but is eager to return for WA’s subsequent tournament against Tasmania in the WACA opener on October 20.
Bailey believed that owning an SUV was once a “luxury” and not a necessity. “Even looking at the quick three that we usually play in Test cricket, they have played a lot of Test cricket together where they didn’t have an all-rounder either,” he said.
“I think it certainly depends on the personnel that are available. I guess the role that Cam and Mitch have played is that they have been able to maintain a place solely at the back of their batting and I think that is still fundamentally the most important thing in that six. first.
“I’ll continue to prepare for Mitch Marsh to bowl some overs too, that’s been part of his control over the last few months.”
Australia’s hierarchy has carefully managed the quicks’ workload ahead of the India series, with Cummins missing England’s entire tour of England to give him a break from bowling.
Cummins is unlikely to play a Shield match before the India series and will instead prepare by leading Australia in their ODI series against Pakistan. But Hazlewood and Starc will play at least one Shield match before the Pakistan series.
“Pat clearly had an individual build, but if you progress through the test team from the end of the event and its creation to the first test of this event, everyone is quite nuanced,” Bailey said.
“There is always a vision for the man as to what his ultimate preparation is for any summer Test. “I think the proliferation of franchise cricket means there are enough opportunities and temptations for players to fill the gaps.
“Pat, Mitch and Josh have been pretty amazing at selecting which franchise tournaments they’ll play in. And they always give each other good breaks when appropriate too.”
Tristan Lavalette is a journalist based entirely in Perth.
