The possibility of Cooper Connolly being injected into Australia’s misfiring Test top order has not been ruled out after the rising WA star was selected in a squad which will head to South Africa later this month.
Marnus Labuschagne has been retained in a 16-player group for a three-test tour of the home of the reigning World Test Championship winners, which appears to be without a natural replacement for the under-pressure No.3.
Connolly has spent much of his budding Sheffield Shield career in the middle order, having batted at or above No.4 only twice in the 21 innings his first-class career his consisted of.
But the all-rounder was used as an opener in Australia’s most recent One-Day International Series, making a match-winning 149 against Bangladesh in June.
Australia’s chairman of selectors George Bailey said Connolly’s white-ball performances had bolstered the panel’s faith he was capable of playing a variety of roles in the Test side.
“I think he’s got a game that’s well suited to the middle order, but no doubt, as he matures and continues to grow his game, I think there’s a capacity there where he could bat further up the order,” Bailey said.
“His overall development will continue to expand his ability to bat in a range of positions.
“Every time that we’ve had him on tour, he’s a good learner, he’s keen to expand his game.
“It was one of the nicer phone calls you get to make. He was incredibly excited to be a part of this and to continue that development.
“Primarily, the skill-set as a batsman is the reason he was picked, but like a number of players within that squad, that secondary skill-set, if the conditions suit or the time’s right, that can be important.”
Connolly is the only batsman added to the squad which shockingly drew 1-1 with Bangladesh last month, with his WA teammate Josh Inglis again figuring as the spare wicketkeeper.
Bailey also hinted Inglis was firmly in the mix if a replacement for Labuschagne or either opener was required against the Proteas, although he did not rule out the group being reinforced with further additions.
“Ingo probably gets lost a little bit, given he’s been in so many squads, but not necessarily had the opportunities,” he said.
“He is one who potentially, and has shown this probably more in white-ball cricket, has an ability to bat in a range of positions.
“By the time the Test series starts, you can ultimately pick from anywhere.
“In terms of the prep for others outside the squad . . . there’s the two (Australia A) first-class games in India, and obviously, the shield season will start, so there will be plenty of people in a position to come into that, if through injury or otherwise, that is deemed necessary.”
Labuschagne has been retained in the squad despite having managed only 392 runs in his last 20 Test innings and being in the midst of a drought without a century at the level spanning more than three years.
The Queenslander was dropped from the One-Day International side which will play against Zimbabwe and South Africa before the Test series begins, and Bailey said the one-time No.1 ranked Test better in the world would benefit from focusing on the red ball.
“I’m not shying away from the fact we’d like some more runs from Marn, that’s clear, but we’re also confident that he can still make a positive contribution to that squad,” Bailey said.
“Our batting group in its entirety, not just Marn, hasn’t been functioning as successfully as we would like, but also, we’ve continued to win a lot of Test matches over that period.”
Australia Test squad for tour of South Africa: Pat Cummins (captain), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Cam Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster.
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