Queensland’s Michael Neser has continued pressing his case for an Ashes call-up, putting together another all-round masterclass in the County Championship this week.
The 33-year-old starred with bat and ball against Worcestershire in Cardiff, helping put Welsh county Glamorgan within touching distance of a much-needed maiden victory for the season.
Neser, who was omitted from Australia’s squad for the World Test Championship final and first two Ashes Tests, claimed 4-40 from 13 overs in the first innings as Worcestershire was rolled for 109 on day one.
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Glamorgan was in a spot of bother at 6-120 when Neser walked out to bat later that evening, but the right-hander cracked 86 (120), including 13 boundaries, to give the hosts a commanding 149-run lead. He was the only player from either side to pass fifty in the first innings, with Glamorgan teammate Marnus Labuschagne bowled for 42.
It comes after Neser claimed career-best figures of 7/32, including a hat-trick, against Yorkshire last week, also cracking 90 (198) in a record-breaking partnership against Leicestershire in late April.
No cricketer has scored more runs (186 at 46.50) and taken more wickets (16 at 25.37) in the County Championship this season than Neser, who was also named Player of the Sheffield Shield for 2022/23.
According to The Daily Telegraph, Neser and New South Wales seamer Sean Abbott will join the Australian squad’s training camp ahead of the World Test Championship final against India, which gets underway at The Oval on June 7.
Cricket Australia has sought permission from Glamorgan and Surrey for Neser and Abbott respectively to join the pre-Ashes training camp, News Corp reports.
Despite missing out on Test selection, Neser and Abbott will be available as injury cover if one of Australia’s four premier quicks breaks down during the gruelling six-Test tour.
“We’ve got Sean Abbott and Michael Neser over there playing county cricket, so they’re obviously on the ground playing lots of cricket, so we can call on them if we need,” chief selector George Bailey told reporters last month.
“It’s great to have so many players playing county cricket, we’ll keep an eye on all the guys that are over there playing.
“We’ve got our first-choice four quicks over there, and then if we do need to call upon another quick, we can be really specific around who we need and why, and not necessarily have someone in the squad who ends up being superfluous.”
Meanwhile, Australian coach Andrew McDonald is confident that Josh Hazlewood will be fit and available for the World Test Championship final.
The 32-year-old hasn’t played a first-class match since January, nursing an Achilles injury that ruled him out of the recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy in India.
Hazlewood missed the first half of the Indian Premier League, but has played three T20 matches for the Royal Challengers Bangalore this month as he continues his rehabilitation.
“So far so good. He’s pulling up well from each encounter he has in the IPL,” McDonald told News Corp.
“He’s dealing and coping with the loads … he’s building nicely to availability for the Test Championship.”
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