The Australia A tour of India could shape Australia’s cricket for years to come
THE core of Australia’s Test batting line-up, and those vying to fill the spots of suspended batsmen Steve Smith and David warner, will tour India in August and coach Justin Langer is excited.
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BEATEN but not battered Australian coach Justin Langer says the upcoming Australia A tour of India is “huge” for Test selection after a winless white ball whip around England that wasn’t the disaster it appeared to be.
The core of Australia’s Test batting line-up, and those vying to fill the spots of suspended batsmen Steve Smith and David warner, will tour India in August for four weeks of matches before a team is picked for the two-games series against Pakistan in the UAE in October.
Incumbent Test batsmen, like opener Matthew Renshaw and Usman Khawaja, who has peeled off three straight County Championship centuries in England this month, are part of the “A” team and Langer said it’s the most important tour in recent times.
“It’s huge,” Langer said after the T20 loss in Birmingham which concluded the England tour.
“We’ll probably pick the Test team after the Australia A team. It’s a great opportunity, particularly for our young batsmen, or any batsman in Australia. It’s very, very rare to pick a Test squad after something like that. We’ve got a short period so it’s going to be a huge tour. It’s exciting.
“I won’t be at that tour, because from about the end of September, we’re not going to go home for about 18 months. I’ll certainly be watching it closely because we have to start building the top six in the Test team.”
Langer wasn’t falling over with concern after six straight losses to England in his opening series in charge, but the lack of victories could lead to changes.
Australia will more than likely have a new ODI captain when it next plays in November, after Langer wondered aloud whether Tim Paine’s best cricket may not be in coloured clothing.
Aaron Finch increased his chances of taking over after a lone-hand in Wednesday’s T20 loss at Edgbaston. The skipper blasted 84 off just 41 balls as the Aussies fell 28 runs short of another English batting onslaught which netted them 221.
It completed a winless tour played without so many of Australia’s first choice players and Langer walked away confident there was “light at the end of the tunnel”.
“I knew it was going to be a big job knowing where we came from in South Africa. There’s been some great learning and some real positives that have come from this trip,” he said.
“On the surface it looks like a complete disaster but we have talked about (building) a team for the world cup and the Ashes and I think we have unlocked a few answers but it hurts when you get beaten, particularly in England.
“If Steve Smith, David Warner, Mitch Marsh, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc come back in, all of a sudden you’ve got 800 games of experience again and we’ve got a lot more experienced team.
“And if some of these young guys who are gaining some experience here, or the guys who have taken it up — Ashton Agar has been really good with the ball and shown a lot with the bat. Billy Stanlake has had some good games.
“A few of the boys have walked into the jungle and we’ll see how they go, not only over the next six months, but over the next two or three or 10 years. “
Australia A four-day squad: Mitchell Marsh (c), Alex Carey (vc), Ashton Agar, Brendan Doggett, Peter Handscomb, Travis Head, Jon Holland, Usman Khawaja, Michael Neser, Joel Paris, Kurtis Patterson, Matthew Renshaw, Mitch Swepson, Chris Tremain
Originally published as The Australia A tour of India could shape Australia’s cricket for years to come