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Cummins in severe doubt as ‘Wild Thing’ Lance Morris called into Test squad

By Malcolm Conn

The prospect of captain Pat Cummins playing the second Test in Adelaide has been called into doubt by coach Andrew McDonald as pace duo Lance Morris and Michael Neser were added to an expanded squad.

While Cummins believes he will be fit to start the second Test on Thursday despite a “small strain” to his right quad, McDonald rated the skipper only a 50-50 chance.

Cummins did not bowl in the second innings of Australia’s 164-run first Test win over the West Indies in Perth, which ended on Sunday.

“Patty’s obviously the major concern,” McDonald said ahead of the team flying to Adelaide on Monday. “We erred on the side of caution.

“We had him out there, available [to bowl on Sunday] potentially if we were pushed into a bit of a corner and the game wasn’t going our way, but fortunately, we didn’t have to use him,” McDonald said.

Lance Morris has been added to Australia’s Test squad.

Lance Morris has been added to Australia’s Test squad.Credit: Getty

“So therefore, that recovery in theory started potentially two days ago. So, we feel as though he’s 50-50 for the next Test match at the moment.”

Original reserve paceman Scott Boland, who became an instant Ashes hero last summer, will play if Cummins fails a fitness Test in Adelaide this week. Boland claimed 6-7 in the second innings of the Boxing Day Test and finished the series with 18 wickets at an average of 9.55 in three Tests.

Morris and Neser have been called into the squad as cover for Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood. While neither are injured, McDonald and his fellow selectors are concerned about the cluttered schedule, which has two Tests against the West Indies and three against South Africa jammed into less than seven weeks, before Test tours of India and England and a 50-over World Cup next year.

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“It does factor them in,” McDonald said. “It’s a short turnaround. We’ll see how they pull up. It’s three and a half days [break] because it’s a day-night game. We’ll assess those bodies. But we’ve got to respect the short turnaround. At the moment, as it sits they’ve pulled up well, both Josh and Mitch.”

Morris, 24, is the leading wicket-taker in the Sheffield Shield this season with 27 at an average of 18.4, while pink-ball specialist Neser, 32, who made his Test debut under lights in Adelaide last season, is third on the table with 24 wickets at 14.5.

The unlucky player is Neser’s fellow Queenslander Mark Steketee, 28, who has 25 Shield wickets at 15.52 and was the pick of the bowlers in the recent four-day Prime Minister’s XI match against the West Indies in Canberra with six wickets.

Morris, referred to by his WA teammates as “Wild Thing”, has played 18 first-class matches for 59 wickets at an average of 25.

McDonald said Cummins was currently the responsibility of the squad’s medical team.

“Firstly, we have to get him out of the hands of the physio. The first step will be that he’s rid of all the symptoms around the quad.

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“Then once he’s handed over to us, we can assess him from a skills perspective, but until he’s handed over from the medical team then he’s not on the table [for] selection. We feel as though that’ll happen pretty quickly.”

While Australia’s bowlers almost never bowl the day before a Test and will be on light duties in the coming days, Cummins concedes he will need to do some sort of fitness test to prove he’s ready to go.

“We can leave it right up to the toss if we want. He’s our captain, we’re going to give him every chance to get out there,” McDonald said.

Both Neser and Jhye Richardson played the second Test against England in Adelaide last year after Hazlewood was ruled out and Cummins was forced to miss out due to COVID-19 protocols.

However, Richardson is having trouble overcoming persistent heel bruising and was not considered.

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Original URL: https://www.smh.com.au/link/follow-20170101-p5c3oo