Cricket: Two debutants but Pucovski is denied

Will Pucovski has been denied the chance to play his debut Test. But Kurtis Patterson and Jhye Richardson are in.

Kurtis Patterson is one of two debutants in the Test team to play Sri Lanka

Exciting 20-year-old Victorian Will Pucovski has been denied the chance to make his debut Test today at the Gabba. But batsman Kurtis Patterson and pace bowler Jhye Richardson will be at the cap presentation, as Australia fields its most inexperienced batting line-up since the 1970s.

Selectors agonised all yesterday before releasing the team when an afternoon training session was finished.

Joe Burns has been recalled after missing the India series and will open with Marcus Harris. The Queensland batsman played 14 Tests, the most recent after he was airlifted in to fill one of the vacancies following the South African ball-tampering drama.

Australia’s top order has just 66 Tests’ worth of experience — 39 of those belong to Usman Khawaja, who has struggled for runs this summer. Harris has played four Tests, Marnus Labuschagne three and Travis Head six.

Things aren’t quite as thin as they were in 1978-79 when Australia fielded a top six against England that had just 35 matches’ experience following the World Series exodus, or a few months later when the top six against Pakistan had played just 31 Tests. But they’re not that far off.

The Graham Yallop team was trampled by England, but Sri Lanka with a pink ball under lights is not as formidable an opponent. The visitors have never won a Test match in Australia and have had a similar loss of talent in recent seasons with Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and more recently Rangana Herath departing.

Captain Tim Paine spoke to the media before the team was chosen yesterday, but was not concerned about the lack of experience in his batting line-up now that Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb and Mitch Marsh have all been dropped.

“We’ll be picking who we think the best combination is to win this Test and if there’s three guys that haven’t played a Test match so far, that is the way it is,” the Australian captain said. “If they do I have real confidence in those guys if they were to play, not just on their cricket but I think all the guys, all the young guys who have the potential to make their debut this Test will handle the occasion really well.”

NSW’s Patterson, 25, came from nowhere into the team. He was not part of the original squad but demanded inclusion with a pair of unbeaten centuries against Sri Lanka in the tour match, which followed a three-figures score in grade cricket the weekend earlier.

The tall batsman made 157 to be the youngest century-maker on debut in Sheffield Shield cricket back in 2011-12.

His arrival has ended the chance of Pucovski making his debut. The 20-year-old with only eight first-class matches to his name is rated by some as potentially the next Ricky Ponting, but Patterson’s immediate form and Burns’s history at the ground were rated as more valuable by selectors.

The only other option was to drop Labuschagne but a 38 in his only innings in Sydney and a half century in the tour game, along with the fact he is a local, were in his favour.

Disappointment at the Pucovski decision was palpable. Networks had packages interviewing coaches and families and fans, who were strapping themselves in for what they hope will be a bright Test future — they resigned themselves to waiting longer. Former England captain Michael Vaughan was critical on social media.

“So the talked-of best young batsman the Aussies have produced for many years, Will Pucovski, isn’t in the team to play against Sri Lanka,” he said. “What an opportunity missed.”

Burns, who has performed well in first-class cricket this year, will bat alongside Harris and allow Khawaja to drop down a place in the batting order. The Queensland captain opened in Sydney after Aaron Finch was dropped.

Sri Lanka know they face a hard task on a bouncy Gabba strip but are hoping 21-year-old fast bowler Lahiru Kumara can ruffle a few feathers. The quick who can reach speeds of 145km/h finished with 17 wickets at an average of 20 during the recent New Zealand series.

Captain Dinesh Chandimal dismissed talk of Sri Lanka beating Australia as they did the last time the teams met in Sri Lanka in 2016, saying conditions in that home series were vastly different to what they will face under lights in Brisbane. But he is hopeful.

“One of my dreams is to win a Test match here — that’s one of my dreams as a captain and player, but that’s not an easy thing coming here,” he said.

“You have to do a lot of hard work, not 100 per cent but 200 per cent. That has to come from all 11 players, 200 per cent for all five days. That’s what we are looking at as a team. It is a really good opportunity to make history and we just want to do that as a team.”

Paine countered suggestions yesterday that the decision to appoint Travis Head and Pat Cummins as interim vice-captains represented a snub to Nathan Lyon and Khawaja, who are the more senior players.

“I’ve said a few times we’re trying to get to a point in our team where everyone is a leader and this is a great opportunity out of some bad luck for Josh (Hazlewood) and his back to get some other guys some leadership experience,” he said.

“Travis has obviously captained South Australia and the Adelaide Strikers for a few years and done really well and Pat Cummins is someone who is clearly seen as a really strong leader in our group.”