Next up, India.
Following another undefeated home summer, Australia’s attention quickly turns to the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which has been in India’s possession for nearly six years.
It’s notoriously difficult to defeat India in their background; of their most recent 43 home Tests, they’ve lost two.
Notably, Australia doesn’t have any warm-up matches scheduled ahead of the first Test in Nagpur, so there’s an element of the unknown heading into the tour.
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“It’s very hard when you’re going overseas, you don’t get the preparation to get used to the conditions,” former Australian captain Allan Border told foxsports.com.au.
“There’s no way they’ll prepare fast tracks. It just won’t happen.”
Pat Cummins and his comrades are heavy outsiders, but it’s no secret the key to success in India is spin; more than 63 per cent of Test wickets taken in India since 2010 have come from the tweakers.
Nathan Lyon, who toured India in 2013 and 2017, will be crucial to Australia’s success in the subcontinent next month, but the off-spinner needs support.
National selectors are reportedly considering flying four tweakers to India next week, and several candidates are hoping for a call-up.
ASHTON AGAR
Ashton Agar can safely assume he’ll be named in Australia’s Test squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, with Cummins all but confirming as much during Sunday’s post-match press conference in Sydney.
The West Australian ended a six-year hiatus from the Test side after he was picked for the New Year’s fixture against South Africa. He bowled 22 wicketless overs on the batting-friendly deck, giving the left-armer some valuable Test experience ahead of the India tour.
However, Agar’s first-class record is modest at best, averaging 42.21 with the ball after 64 matches, but he’s missed a lot of Sheffield Shield over the past couple of years due to international white-ball commitments.
Agar may not be the second-best spinner in the country, but his bowling action compliments that of Lyon, who turns the ball into the right-handed batters rather than away.
Border believes that Lyon and Agar are a “good combination” for India, because when bowling in tandem they threaten both edges of the bat.
“From my observations, finger spinners are more dangerous (than wrist spinners),” Border explained.
“You seem to have sharper, more variable spin when bowling finger spin.”
Agar’s status as an all-rounder also works in his favour. With three first-class centuries to his name, he’s capable of batting at No. 7 and providing valuable lower-order runs.
TODDMURPHY
Todd Murphy has been hailed as Nathan Lyon’s long-term replacement, with opponents and teammates singing his praises all summer.
The 22-year-old has snared 14 wickets at 17.71 in the Sheffield Shield this season, taking seven scalps against New South Wales to help Victoria clinch a remarkable victory at Junction Oval last month.
He also claimed 3-27 against the West Indies during November’s Prime Minister’s XI match at Canberra’s Manuka Oval.
“He’s as good an off-spinner I’ve seen since Nathan Lyon,” former Australian spinner Steve O’Keefe told foxsports.com.au.
“I think the ball comes out of his hand beautifully. He’s working on his variations, and he’s going to be a star for the Australian cricket team when the time comes.
“Every year he just seems to get a little bit better.”
During last year’s tour of Sri Lanka, Murphy took 4-52 from 19 overs while representing Australia A in just his third first-class match.
“Todd Murphy is the second-best spinner in the country,” former Australian spinner Kerry O‘Keeffe declared on Fox Cricket.
Being an off-spinner like Lyon, Murphy probably won’t make his international debut in Nagpur, but if Australia decides to play three tweakers at some stage in India, the spectacled tweaker could become the country’s 465th Test cricketer.
MITCHELL SWEPSON
After sliding in and out of the Australia Test squad for nearly five years, Mitchell Swepson finally got his opportunity in 2022, accompanying Lyon on tours of Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
The Queenslander struggled on the lifeless subcontinent pitches, finishing the Pakistan series with bowling figures of 2-266, but redeemed himself in Sri Lanka, taking seven wickets in Galle to help Australia retain the Warne-Muralitharan Trophy.
However, the 29-year-old hasn’t been bashing down the door for a recall, taking 12 wickets at 39.66 in this season’s Sheffield Shield.
Unfortunately for Swepson, finger spin has been considerably more effective on Indian pitches over the past few years, with the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel wreaking havoc.
Even the late Shane Warne, the greatest wrist spinner in history, averaged 43.11 with the ball in India.
“Warnie in India tended to be high quality, but it was more consistent spin …. he was never at his absolute best bowling in Indian conditions, his record reflects that,” Border said.
“Loopy leg-spinners, I don’t think I’ve seen those sort of guys be successful … finger spin’s the go.
“I feel sorry for Mitch, because he bowls at the Gabba (in the Sheffield Shield). It’s a green wicket, and they play seamers. Some games he hardly bowls.
“It’s been a tough gig for him to really get that continuity of opportunity.”
Still, Swepson offers variation, and national selectors will give the 29-year-old a plane ticket to India if they want to ensure all bases are covered.
MATTHEW KUHNEMANN
A forgotten name in Australian cricket, Matthew Kuhnemann made his international debut in Sri Lanka last year, snaring six wickets in four ODIs.
It followed a successful Sheffield Shield campaign for the crafty tweaker, taking 25 wickets at 31.88 in seven matches. No spinner took more first-class scalps than the Queenslander during the 2021/22 summer.
Last month, Kuhnemann claimed 4-78 against South Africa in a warm-up match at Allan Border Field, rolling through the Proteas top-order in Brisbane.
Cricket Australia also sent Kuhnemann to the MRF Academy in Chennai last year, joining a group of emerging batters and spinners to refine their craft in the subcontinent.
Unfortunately for the 26-year-old, chances to push for Test selection have been limited. Swepson is Queensland’s first-choice tweaker, keeping Kuhnemann on the sidelines for most of the Sheffield Shield campaign.
The left-hander has only played one first-class match this summer, claiming 1-31 in 15 overs against Tasmania. National selectors would be reluctant to give Kuhnemann a maiden call-up purely because of a lack of overs.
“In our first-class system, all the pitches seem to be grassy, seaming pitches,” Border said.
“They don’t have the opportunity to bowl lots and lots over overs in first-class cricket.”
ADAM ZAMPA
He’s only played one first-class match in the last three years, but the lure of rushing Adam Zampa into the Test side is tempting.
The leg-spinner has been superb in Australia’s one-day side over the last couple of years, and he recently signalled his ambitions to play Test cricket.
“I feel like my game has evolved enough in the last few years. It’s just about seeing the workloads and how my body will cope really,” Zampa told Fox Cricket in November.
“I’d love to throw my hat in the ring.”
Zampa made his long-awaited return to the Sheffield Shield last month, taking 3-57 against Victoria at Junction Oval.
His consistency has come leaps and bounds since bursting onto the scene a decade ago, and Border is eager to see the New South Welshman ply his trade in Australian whites.
“I wouldn’t mind seeing Zampa,” Border said.
“I know he hasn’t played any red-ball cricket, which would be a bit of an odd selection.
“There’s something about Zampa, the way he’s developed over the last couple of seasons. He’s landing the ball well and his varieties are very, very good.”
Zampa also bowls faster and flatter than the traditional leggie, which Border highlighted as an essential quality for wrist spin in India, but whether he’s done enough to leapfrog Swepson in the pecking order remains to be seen.
TANVEER SANGHA
Much like Todd Murphy, Tanveer Sangha was earmarked as a future star of Australian cricket from an early age.
The leg-spinner earned his maiden national call-up in early 2021, named in Australia’s squad for a T20 tour of New Zealand at just 19 years old.
Sangha made his first-class debut for New South Wales later that year, ending the 2021/22 Sheffield Shield season with 17 wickets at 32.17.
“He’s a competitor – he goes out there and competes, even with the bat in his hand, he competes from ball one. He doesn’t give the opposition a sniff,” Blues captain Kurtis Patterson said earlier this summer.
“I have no doubt … he’ll play a lot of cricket for Australia if he keeps on the trajectory he’s on.”
Sangha turned heads during last year’s Australia tour of Sri Lanka, claiming 4-56 in the first red-ball match at Hambantota. He also featured in the MRF Academy expedition in Chennai last year.
Unfortunately, a lower back stress injury sidelined him for the first half of the 2022/23 summer; he hasn’t played a professional cricket match since August.
Had Sangha been fit and working his magic in the Sheffield Shield this summer, he was a decent chance of earning a maiden Test call-up next month.
PATRICK DOOLEY
This would be a surprise.
Patrick Dooley, who is without a state contract, became a cult hero after taking 4-16 against the Perth Scorchers in the Big Bash League last month, with his unique bowling action proving popular with Hobart Hurricanes fans.
The 25-year-old is yet to make his first-class debut, but former Australian batter Mark Waugh is convinced the left-armer has shown enough promise to earn a plane ticket to India.
“I’m gonna throw in a real smokey here,” Waugh told Fox Cricket when asked about the Australian Test squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
“He’s playing for the Hurricanes at the moment. Left-arm helicopter, arms and legs everywhere. Patty Dooley.
“At the moment I reckon he’s about 80-1, but I think he could firm. I think there’s a bit of mystery about him. He’s got some tricks, which I think you’re gonna need against the Indian batsmen, and he bowls quite accurate. He bowls at the stumps, and he just does enough either way.
“I know it’s a really left-field selection, but it’s something the selectors may well think about.”
Former Australian tweaker Kerry O’Keeffe continued: “His angular release is the best angular release for a wrist spinner in Australia.”
Dooley has taken 12 wickets at 13.25 since making his T20 debut earlier this year, conceding just 6.36 runs per over.
However, an untimely shoulder injury meant that Dooley was sidelined for the Hurricanes’ match against the Melbourne Renegades on Saturday.
GLENN MAXWELL
Some Australian cricket fans scoff whenever Glenn Maxwell’s name is mentioned in Test selection debates, but the Victorian has plenty working in his favour.
Not only does he have prior Test cricket experience in Asia, but he scored a Test century in India six years ago.
Maxwell averages 43.68 with the bat in the Sheffield Shield, scoring four centuries and 19 fifties for Victoria since making his first-class debut in 2011.
The 34-year-old has not played first-class cricket since October 2019, with international commitments and the sport’s crammed schedule repeatedly preventing the right-hander from plying his trade in the Sheffield Shield.
He would have hoped to play some first-class cricket this summer to push his case for Test selection, but a freak leg injury after the T20 World Cup denied any chance of a Sheffield Shield return.
The talented all-rounder played the last of his seven Tests against Bangladesh in September 2017, but came agonisingly close to a long-awaited comeback during Australia’s recent Test tour of Sri Lanka.
Maxwell’s off-spin would have been handy in India as well, but the untimely leg injury heavily damaged his chances of another Test recall.
