Nathan McSweeney’s bid to be handed a Test debut against India has been dealt a blow after he was dismissed cheaply to end day one of Australia A’s clash against India A.
McSweeney was caught in the slips for just 14 and was soon joined in the sheds by fellow Test opening candidate Cameron Bancroft, who managed just three as Australia A ended the day’s play on 2-53 after India A had been bowled out for 161 at the MCG.
McSweeney and Bancroft’s cheap returns will extend what has become a major headache for Australia’s selectors, with the team yet to determine who will open alongside Usman Khawaja when the series against India gets underway in Perth in 15 days time.
Further complicating things for Australia’s selectors was the injury to Michael Neser, who hobbled off the MCG with a hamstring injury, only hours after ripping through India A’s top-order to seemingly put himself back in Test contention.
The Queensland bowling all-rounder made a mess of the tourists as they crumbled to 5-64 at lunch, after Australia A captain McSweeney won the toss and elected to bowl first.
But Neser (4-27) managed to bowl just two balls of his 13th over, before pulling up sore and walking dejectedly off the field only minutes before the tea break.
Neser won’t bowl again for the rest of the match and will undergo scans on his left hamstring to determine the damage.
Michael Neser’s hopes of an uninterrupted summer have been dashed by a hamstring injury that will put a cloud over his availability for Australia’s Test side. (Getty Images: Darrian Traynor)
India A were bowled out for 161, a total almost entirely thanks to a brilliant unbeaten 80 from wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel.
Earlier, they collapsed to 4-11 during a chaotic first 16 balls of the match.
Neser was on a hat-trick in his first over after dismissing Abhimanyu Easwaran and Sai Sudharsan in consecutive balls.
Ruturaj Gaikwad survived the hat-trick ball, but fell in Neser’s next over.
In between, Scott Boland removed KL Rahul, an option to play against Australia in the opening Test of the Border-Gavaskar series, for just four.
The wickets tumbled so quickly that the scoreboard at the MCG failed to realise Rahul had been promoted to open after he had initially been listed to bat at No.4.
Rahul was dropped for India’s third Test defeat against New Zealand last week, arriving in Australia early to try and find some form for India A.
Boland spoke about Rahul on Tuesday: “He’s obviously a world-class player, but he is someone we can hopefully get on top of pretty early and stay on top of him for most of the summer.”
It only took three balls from Boland (1-22) — and four overall — to get Rahul out at the MCG.
Australia A’s other candidates in line to partner Khawaja at the top of the Test order — Marcus Harris (26 not out) and Sam Konstas (one not out) — will return to the crease hoping to stake their claims when day two gets underway on Friday.
AAP
