Cricket Australia will keep exciting young quicks Jackson Bird and Josh Hazlewood on ice for next week’s Australia A game against South Africa at the SCG, preferring to opening the bowling with Victoria’s medium-pacer John Hastings.

Victoria’s Andrew McDonald will captain the side and is one of five allrounders in the team alongside Bushrangers teammates Glenn Maxwell and Hastings and NSW pair Moises Henriques and Steve Smith.

Australia’s star allrounder Shane Watson carries a heavy workload in all three forms of the game and Inverarity said having a second allrounder in the Test side would be extremely useful.

“We’re unashamedly very keen to develop allrounders,” Inverarity said on Friday.

Inverarity said with the shoulder injury to Jon Holland, 24-year-old Maxwell would be handed the frontline-spinner’s role.

“John Hastings has made a splendid return from injury, as has (wicketkeeper) Tim Paine, and John will share the new ball with Nathan Coulter-Nile, who impressed with Australia A in England a few months ago, as did (Liam) Davis,” Inverarity said.

Inverarity said Bird, who has taken 66 wickets in his 11-game Sheffield Shield career including 4-73 in Victoria’s first innings at the MCG this week, was right on the radar for selectors.

“Two bowlers who could well have been in that team were Jackson Bird and Josh Hazlewood. But we’d prefer to keep them up our sleeve at this stage,” Inverarity said.

“You can quite easily get some injuries.”

Selectors snubbed South Australia’s century-maker Callum Ferguson and called on the 27-year-old to show more consistency.

Allrounder Mitch Marsh was omitted after being dropped by Perth Scorchers for a Champions League Twenty20 match in South Africa for having a late-night celebration for his 21st birthday.

Former Australian one-day international representative Ferguson’s 164 in the Sheffield Shield game against Queensland in Adelaide this week prompted Queensland coach Darren Lehmann to nominate Ferguson as being very close to national selection.

However Inverarity couldn’t find a place for Ferguson in the side to play the Proteas at the SCG on November 2-4.

Last summer’s Test No.3 Usman Khawaja was also overlooked, with Phil Hughes, Rob Quiney, Liam Davis and Alex Doolan filling the top-order slots.