Michael Clarke has rubbished suggestions in-form wicketkeeper-batter Josh Inglis could be a bolter for Australia’s Test side and insists selectors must go with a specialist opener. Inglis has rocketed into the selection conversation for the five-Test series against India starting next month, after scoring back-to-back Sheffield Shield hundreds for Western Australia.
Inglis is already a proven international performer as an established member of Australia’s white-call cricket squads and he has two T20 centuries to his name. The 29-year-old normally bats at six for WA in the Shield but NSW coach Greg Shipperd said he believes Inglis is a “smoky” to be chosen as Usman Khawaja’s Test opening partner and described him as a like-for-like replacement for David Warner – who this week offered to come out of retirement if selectors needed him.
“I’d have Inglis and (Sam) Konstas in the conversation … and let the Australian selectors mull over those two,” Shipperd said on Wednesday. “His (Inglis’s) performances for Australia have been first-class and I think they’re looking for a style of player at the top of the order, and Inglis may fit that brief.
“If you think of the style, he’s a right-handed version of David Warner in terms of someone who wants to get on with the play. He’s got strokes all around the wicket and has played at the level internationally. I think he’s a well-respected player.”
However Clarke disagrees and says Australian selectors should pick a specialist opener and not make the same “mistake” they did by shifting Steve Smith from No.4 to open when Warner retired. That experiment was widely considered a failure and Smith is set to move back down to his normal position for the India series, leaving the likes of openers Cameron Bancroft, Marcus Harris and NSW teen sensation Konstas in contention partner Khawaja at the top of the order.
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“We made a mistake in getting Steve Smith to open the batting in Test cricket, so let’s not make the same mistake. Let’s pick a specialist opener, whoever is best equipped,” Clarke told Sky Sports Radio’s Big Sports Breakfast on Thursday. “How can you justify Josh Inglis is a better person to open the batting in a Test match against this Indian attack than a specialist opener? He scored Shield runs, yes, but he bats in the middle order.”
Michael Clarke urges Test selectors to pick a specialist opener
Clarke insists that too much is being made about the recent Sheffield Shield matches in which most of leading Test contenders flopped with the bat or failed to really press their claims for Test selection. “It’s not just about who’s making runs right here, right now. That is not how you select an Australian cricket team,” Clarke added.
“The problem they have at the moment is the top three contenders who are specialist opening batters are not making runs in Shield cricket… Who gives a s***? It’s been two Shield rounds on wickets that are seaming, like who cares? It can’t just be about making runs in the two Shield games.”
The former Australia captain said earlier this week that he believes Test skipper Pat Cummins would already know who is going to be opening alongside Khawaja in the India series. And Clarke reiterated his view that Bancroft is the opener selectors should go with, despite the fact he’s started the new Shield season in awful form with scores of 0, 0, 8 and 2 for WA.
“I would probably go with Cameron Bancroft because he’s been the leading run scorer for the last two years in Shield Cricket,” Clarke added. “I care about Shield cricket. I think he’s earned the right to be selected based on runs.” Bancroft will get another chance to stamp his claims for a Test spot alongside Konstas and Harris during Australia A’s two-match series against India A, starting next week in Mackay.
with AAP
