Brett Lee and Brian Lara have implored Australia to blood speedster Lance Morris in a four man pace attack for the third Test against South Africa at the SCG.
West Australian speed machine Morris has held his place in the squad, while Josh Hazlewood returns from injury and Matt Renshaw and Ashton Agar have also been brought in, with Mitchell Starc and Cameron Green out due to injury.
“Ashton Agar has come into the squad, Matt Renshaw has come into the squad and Lance Morris stays in the squad,” Brendon Julian said on Fox Cricket.
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“What’s your line-up?”
“I’m actually going to bring in Josh Hazlewood for Mitchell Starc and I’m going to unleash The Wild Thing 2.0,” Lee said.
“Lance Morris will come in and I will have Alex Carey bat No.6.
“So I’m essentially having Hazlewood, Boland, Cummins, Morris and Nathan Lyon.
“Then you have got an option for Steven Smith to bowl some leggies and Travis Head.”
Lara believes Australia should go for the throat and keep the pressure on South Africa’s poor batting line-up, which struggles to score over 200 runs an innings.
“It reminds me of a West Indian team in the past where they had a four-pronged pace attack and Roger Harper bowling some off-spin,” Lara said.
“Of course Australia’s off-spinner is a lot better.
“I think that is a pretty good line-up the one that Brett (Lee) has. Get the four fast bowlers in and keep the South Africans under 250 every innings and you are going to win.
“You don’t need all that batting.
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“I’m happy with Carey at No.6, I don’t see any problem with it.
“Keep the pressure on and make sure you play your fast bowlers. Lance Morris coming in is going to be tremendous.”
Renegades batsman and former Test player Shaun Marsh believes Morris is the fastest bowler he has ever faced.
“I hadn’t seen a lot of Lance Morris, but we watched the Scorchers vs Renegades game the other night and even Shaun Marsh said, he was the quickest he had faced,” Julian said.
Lee believes Morris’ ability to attack batsman makes him a point of difference heading into the Sydney Test.
“He’s the quickest in the West, but he could be the quickest in Australia period,” Lee said.
“Shaun Marsh is a very good judge. He has a beautiful action and nice carry.
“The thing I like about Morris is that he is an attacking bowler.
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“I love bowlers who are aggressive. I love bowlers who aren’t afraid to bowl some short stuff and also some brilliant yorkers, so bring him in.
“I reckon unleash the fast bowlers and Boland will be a nightmare on that wicket.”
Lara has been disappointed with South Africa’s batting performances and believes the time is right to keep the pressure on their brittle top six.
“Their fast bowling is to be respected, but their batting has just been very, very poor,” Lara said.
“They don’t seem to have any synergy in that batting line-up.
“They will have to come really good against an Australian team that is just firing on all cylinders.”
