Victorian quick Scott Boland eyes Adelaide Test in PM’s XI side captained by Jack Edwards with Matt Renshaw to also face Indians
Scott Boland will push his pink-ball case ahead of the day-night second Test in Adelaide after being picked to lead the Prime Minister’s XI attack against India.
Boland, expected to be named 12th man in today’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy series opener in Perth, is the most experienced of a 14-player squad ticked off by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for the Canberra tour match.
The two-day, day-night match at Manuka Oval beginning November 30 has been flagged as Rohit Sharma’s likely entry point into the series with the India captain set to miss the first Test due to the recent birth of his second child.
Prime Minister’s XI squad: Jack Edwards (c), Charlie Anderson, Mahli Beardman, Scott Boland, Jack Clayton, Aidan O’Connor, Ollie Davies, Jayden Goodwin, Sam Harper, Hanno Jacobs, Sam Konstas, Lloyd Pope, Matthew Renshaw, Jem Ryan
The game will serve as important preparation for India given the second Test in Adelaide will be their first pink-ball Test in nearly three years.
It also presents a chance for Boland to hold his spot at the front of the queue to play in Adelaide should any of Australia’s incumbent quicks miss.
“We are utilising the opportunity to maintain Scott Boland’s match fitness in his preparations as part of the Test squad,” said selection chief George Bailey.
“We thank the Prime Minister for his input into the squad which sees some of the country’s most exciting young cricketers mixed with some highly experienced players.”
Boland’s case should be strengthened given Michael Neser, who has played the past two day-night Adelaide Tests, suffered a hamstring injury that could sideline him for the entire series.
But other contenders like Lance Morris and Jhye Richardson will get their own chance to impress with the pink ball at Adelaide Oval with the pair named to make their returns from injury in Western Australia’s Sheffield Shield contest against South Australia beginning tomorrow.
The Queensland-Victoria match at the Gabba will also be played under lights, but NSW and Tasmania will not play their pink-ball Shield match until March.
Jack Edwards will captain the PM’s XI team featuring last year’s Under-19 World Cup winners Sam Konsas, Mahli Beardman, Charlie Anderson and Aidan O’Connor.
Former Test opener Matthew Renshaw has been selected having been left out of the Australia A matches which were widely seen as a bat-off for the vacant opening position in the Test team that has now been filled by Nathan McSweeney, while emerging middle-order batter Ollie Davies has also been selected.
“The Prime Minister’s XI has a rich history within Australian Cricket and I am delighted to confirm the squad for this summer’s match against India,” said Prime Minister Albanese.
“Taking on India, one of the best sides in world cricket featuring the likes of Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Rishabh Pant, will be an amazing experience for the squad, particularly knowing that millions of fans around the globe will be watching the match.”
NRMA Insurance Men’s Test Series v India
First Test: November 22-26: Perth Stadium, 1.20pm AEDT
PM’s XI v India: Nov 30-Dec 1: Manuka Oval, 2.40pm AEDT (D/N)
Second Test: December 6-10: Adelaide Oval, 3pm AEDT (D/N)
Third Test: December 14-18: The Gabba, Brisbane, 11.20am AEDT
Fourth Test: December 26-30: MCG, Melbourne, 10.30am AEDT
Fifth Test: January 3-7: SCG, Sydney, 10.30am AEDT
Australia squad: (first Test only) Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Nathan McSweeney, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc
India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar. Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed, Yash Dayal
