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Jackson Bird
could play his first Test of this Ashes tour after being named in
Australia's 12 for the fourth Investec Test at Chester-le-Street,
starting on Friday. Given the three-day turnaround between Tests, the
main issue facing the selectors surrounds their management of the
injury-prone fast bowler Ryan Harris, who was rested in the West Indies last year when the team faced a similar back-to-back Test scenario.
If he plays on Friday, it will be only the second time in his career
that Harris has played three consecutive Tests and the first time he
broke down in the third of those games, the Boxing Day Ashes Test
of 2010-11. On that occasion Harris suffered a serious ankle injury but
he has had a number of other problems during his short Test career,
including shoulder surgery last year and a chronic knee injury.
Harris was left out in the Caribbean last year after he took five
wickets in 37.4 overs and scored an important half-century in the Barbados Test.
A three-day gap between matches, combined with his workload, general
fatigue and the fact that he had battled a stomach bug in Barbados led
the selectors to take a conservative approach and sit Harris out for the next Test in Trinidad, despite his strong form.
The circumstances on this occasion are strikingly similar. Again there
is a three-day turnaround after the Old Trafford Test, where Harris
bowled 38 overs and was off the field at times due to a stomach
complaint. Harris appeared exhausted when leaving the field at the end
of the third day in Manchester and although the rain on the final day
gave him some extra recovery time, the Australians will want to see how
Harris performs at training on Thursday before making a decision.
"I think he's a reasonable chance now he hasn't bowled today," Darren
Lehmann said after the final day at Old Trafford. "If he'd bowled [more]
today I wouldn't think he would be a chance at all. We'll just have to
see how he pulls up ... and see how he goes at training."
After Australia's strong showing in Manchester, the selectors would be
keen to choose the same side, all things being equal. Bird is the only
inclusion in the 12 for Chester-le-Street from outside the 11 who played
at Old Trafford, meaning there will be no recall for Ashton Agar, while
other squad members including James Faulkner, Phillip Hughes, Ed Cowan
and Matthew Wade have also missed out as expected.
Australia squad Michael Clarke (capt), Brad Haddin, Jackson Bird,
Ryan Harris, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Chris Rogers, Peter Siddle,
Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, David Warner, Shane Watson.
Brydon Coverdale is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. He tweets here
Feeds: Brydon Coverdale
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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