Australia v Pakistan: Sending Cameron Bancroft to Perth means concussion sub won’t be close at hand
Should an Australian top-order batsman suffer a concussion during the second Test, a replacement will be far away. But it’s a gamble the team believe is worth taking.
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Australia has taken a calculated risk by sending spare batsman Cameron Bancroft back to WA to play Sheffield Shield.
It means that should a member of Australia’s top order suffer a concussion and need replacing during the second Test, Bancroft would be at least half a day’s travel away and would need to be rushed back from Perth to Adelaide to fill the void.
Selector have clearly looked at the percentages and decided that the bigger priority must be allowing Bancroft a rare chance to spend quality time in the middle, rather than the more likely potential for him sitting around carrying drinks if he stayed with the team in Adelaide.
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Australia has made it clear there is no requirement to have a concussion sub as part of the travelling squad, although it was one of the reasons offered to explain Bancroft’s inclusion for the Pakistan series. So far in England and in Brisbane last week, Australia has always had a spare batsman on hand since concussion subs were mandated in Test cricket.
But teams have 36 hours after a concussion incident in which to call in a fresh reserve, which means they theoretically have time to get Bancroft back if needed.
This said, the brief history of concussion subs has shown that no two incidents are the same.
When Steve Smith was concussed during the Ashes he batted out the innings and didn’t need to be replaced by concussion sub Marnus Labuschagne until the next day.
However, in the recent pink ball Test in Kolkata, two Bangladesh batsmen were concussed and were immediately replaced in the innings.
If instant replacements were needed for this Test, Michael Neser is the only spare player who will remain with the side for the duration of the Test.
Captain Tim Paine said Australia was comfortable with Bancroft and James Pattinson returning to their respective States to play Shield – joking they’d be happy to call a spare batsman out of the crowd.
“We are sending to Patto to play a Shield game, Cameron Bancroft will go and play a Shield game and Michael Neser will stay with us this week,” he said.
“We’ll just get someone out of the crowd if something happens. Nah, Bangers is a couple of hours away on a plane if something happens we will be able to get him back pretty quickly.
“I think you’ve got 24 or 36 hours to replace a concussed player so we will have plenty of time to get someone back whether it be a batter or a bowler.
“I don’t think Nes will be batting in our top six, but he is a real handful with a pink ball and if something was to happen we will know Nes will do a great job.”