Australia’s fast bowling brigade in the Caribbean is setting itself for a selection battle ahead of the first Test against the West Indies in Barbados next week.
Test squad members Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle have arrived in Bridgetown and will join Mitchell Starc, James Pattinson and Ben Hilfenhaus – with the quintet battling for three likely spots in the Test line-up with spinner Nathan Lyon expected to play.
Before leaving Australia, Harris claimed he was behind Pattinson, Siddle and Hilfenhaus in the race for the starting spots.
Nothing is certain, however, and the line-up for a three-day tour match against a Board President’s XI starting on Monday will be the best guide of selectors’ intentions.
Pattinson, Hilfenhaus and Starc have the advantage of being in the Caribbean throughout the one-day and Twenty20 campaigns but their match opportunities have been limited.
Hilfenhaus only played the final two one-dayers while Pattinson had to wait for the T20s to play and Starc was in the squad in a development role and is yet to play.
All five quicks will be keen to show captain Michael Clarke and other selectors what they can do when the Test squad holds its first training session together in Barbados on Saturday, a day after Australia’s 14-run loss in the second T20.
One player who won’t be featuring in the Tests is Australian-born West Indies batsman Brendan Nash.
The former Queensland player, hoping for a Test recall after good form for Jamaica in the regional four-day competition, has headed to England to take up a county deal with Kent.
The 34-year-old says while he’s resigned to missing the series against Australia, he’s hoping the stint in England, where former West Indies player Jimmy Adams is his coach, will re-ignite his international career.
“I had a decent four or five games for Jamaica before arriving here but I have not heard anything from anyone in the West Indies circles, so I’m not sure where I stand,” Nash is quoted on Caribbeancricket.com
“I will be playing at a great standard in first-class level in England so my scores will be viewed by the powers that be in the West Indies.
“If that call comes, it comes. If not, then staying here for the full six months isn’t going to be the worst thing either.”