Australia v India: Options to ease burden on pacemen in South Africa tour

Australia is weighing up how to ease the burden on its leading pace trio after being batted to exhaustion by India. Who should make the squad for South Africa? Have your say.

Australia A's Michael Neser takes the wicket of Shubman Gill during the 3 day tour match between Australia A and India A at Drummoyne Oval. Picture. Phil Hillyard

The pace attack recently branded Australia’s best ever could be broken up as part of a revamped strategy to ensure the Indian heartbreak is never repeated.

South African sources say Australia’s three Tests at Centurion and Johannesburg will take place on March 3, 12 and 21, leaving the fast bowling cartel just four days’ recovery between matches.

West Australian x-factor Jhye Richardson is firming as a big chance to come into Australia’s squad to tour South African and could put genuine pressure on the all-star trio of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc to play in every match as they did against India.

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Tasmanian middle-order batsman Ben McDermott also has support to be brought into the squad on the back of a big first-class and Big Bash summer and put the heat on Matthew Wade at No.5.

Australia’s players will get five weeks to rejuvenate mentally and physically after their all-time battle against the Indians, with the squad expected to fly to South Africa on February 24 and re-enter a strict bubble at a golf and fishing resort 4km from Centurion.

It’s expected two Tests will be played at Centurion and one at Johannesburg – although the order is unknown, and the bouncy conditions will suit Australia’s quicks in their bid to earn a quick redemption.

Selectors will soon have to pick two squads to play concurrently in different locations, with the South African Test tour overlapping with a Twenty20 tour of New Zealand in late February.

It makes for some intriguing debates on where best to place resources, but Australia’s shattering loss to India means all priority must be given to the Tests, which Tim Paine’s team must win to make it through to the World Test Championship Final in the UK in June.

James Pattinson fires up after taking a wicket during the Boxing Day Test.

After watching India roll out an entirely second-string attack to create history at the Gabba, there could be lessons there for Australia in better rotating bowlers and trusting their squad of quicks to do the job as they did on the 2019 Ashes.

Jhye Richardson is firming to be part of the squad to tour South Africa.

James Pattinson, Michael Neser and Sean Abbott didn’t get a look in against India, but serious consideration will now be given to not burning out their first-choice stars, after Australia failed to bowl an understrength team out on consecutive day fives in Sydney and Brisbane.

Richardson has not played a Test since February 2019 after a shoulder injury cruelled his World Cup and Ashes hopes that same year.

But the 24-year-old whippet has been clocked as Australia’s fastest bowler when fit, and from his two Test matches he has six wickets at an average of 20 runs per wicket.

Richardson has only been on a Big Bash diet this summer, but selectors will be keen to get him back into the Test arena, and he has the match-breaking ability to provide Australia with a point of difference if Starc, Cummins or Hazlewood was unable to get through a full series.

Starc experienced soreness in his hamstring and was clearly struggling on day five in Brisbane, but in Sydney his figures would have looked a lot better had two catches not been put down off his bowling at a crucial time.

Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitch Starc had a huge workload during the Indian series.

Rotation can be a double-edged sword – Australia rued not picking Starc for the last Test of the Ashes as they blew an opportunity to win the series.

Former Australian captain Steve Waugh said on The Afternoon Sport podcast with Tim Gilbert that the Australian batting order had again let down the quicks by not putting a 500 plus total on the board at the Gabba after winning the toss against a second-string Indian side.

“We haven’t scored enough runs. Realistically on that pitch we should have scored 500-550 in the first innings and put the game away,” Waugh told the podcast.

“Sure, we didn’t bowl them out but the bowlers were quite fatigued. They’d done a lot of bowling … I can see why he’s (captain Tim Paine) put faith in an attack that’s taken over 1000 Test wickets.”

McDermott, 26, made a hundred against the Indians in the pink ball tour game on the eve of the series, and also made a couple of big contributions for Tasmania in the early rounds of the Shield.

Overall his first-class record is underwhelming with an average of 35 and just two centuries from 38 matches.

Originally published as Australia v India: Options to ease burden on pacemen in South Africa tour