Beau Webster all set to make his debut in Sydney as he will replace out-of-sorts Mitchell Marsh in the playing 11.
Beau Webster named to make his debut as the only change for Australia as Marsh is dropped after a lean series with bat and ball.
On the eve of the Sydney Test, Cummins confirmed that Australia would only make one change, with Mitchell Starc being declared fit to play despite having a back/rib injury.
Marsh’s position in the team was under scrutiny following a lacklustre series in which he bowled just 33 overs in seven innings (excluding the short second innings in Brisbane) and claimed 2 for 12 in the first innings of the series. He had scored just 73 runs at 10.42 in the first four Tests, with 47 of those coming in the second innings in Perth when the game was long gone.
In recent seasons, Webster has been the Sheffield Shield’s best all-around player. With 938 runs at 58.62 and 30 wickets at 29.30 last season, he was the Shield’s top scorer. The only other player in Shield history to score over 900 runs and take over 30 wickets in a single season was Sir Garfield Sobers in 1963–64.
He has amassed 303 runs at 50.50 in four games this season, including a century and a half, and claimed nine wickets at 37.88 in 96.5 overs. In addition, he scored an undefeated half-century for Australia A against India A and took six wickets for seventeen in a Dean Jones Trophy 50-over match for Tasmania.
“Mitchy, obviously hasn’t quite got the runs, or perhaps the wickets that he would have liked this series,” Cummins said on Thursday at his pre-Test press conference. “So we felt like it was time for a freshening up, and Beau’s been with the squad. He’s been great. So it’s a shame for Mitchy, because we know how much he brings to the team, but feel like now it’s a good week for Beau to get a chance.”
“He was totally understanding,” Cummins said. “I think his words were, yeah, not necessarily blindsided. He knows he hasn’t scored the runs or taken the wickets that he would have liked. So that makes you vulnerable. Really excited for Beau. The first thing he said, I can’t wait to see Beau go out there and give it a crack.
“Particularly here in Australia, I think when a batter misses out or gets dropped it’s always seen as a big thing, but it’s not the case. The way that Ronnie [Andrew McDonald] and the selectors and myself look at it is, we love pulling a squad of players together who we think we can call on at different times. And we thought the time was right for Mitchy to have a freshen up and miss this one. But it doesn’t mean that he won’t be back in that team at some point.”