Melbourne [Australia], May 19 (ANI): The battle for a spot in Australia’s top six for next month’s ICC World Test Championship Final has grown even more competitive, as several key contenders delivered mixed performances in England’s County Championship, as per the official website of ICC.
Australia named their 15-player squad for the World Test Championship Final against South Africa at Lord’s last week and a host of their important batters are already in England preparing themselves for the one-off Test from June 11.
Key batter Cameron Green boosted his chances of selection in Australia’s XI with a superb century for Gloucestershire in their four-day contest against Kent in Bristol to further strengthen his claims of a return to the Test arena for the first time in more than 15 months.
Green has only just returned from back surgery, but looked in excellent touch for Gloucestershire as he scored his second century since arriving on English shores when amassing 128 from just 184 deliveries in his side’s first innings.
The powerful right-hander hit 17 fours and one massive six during his knock, boosting Gloucestershire’s chances of claiming maximum points and winning the approval of the home fans in a tight Division 2 contest at the County Ground.
“It was amazing. I definitely wanted a good score in front of the fans,” Green said, as quoted from the official website of the ICC.
“I’d never really experienced chanting of my name before so that was awesome to experience,” he added.
“We played a couple of shots, the crowd got up, and you felt like you were really on top of them,” he noted.
If Green does get selected for Australia in the World Test Championship Final it will be just as a batter, meaning fellow all-rounder Beau Webster may win the nod given he can contribute with the ball as a seamer or off-spinner.
Webster did his chances of selection no harm during Warwickshire’s loss to Hampshire in Birmingham, with the 31-year-old collecting six wickets across the two innings along with scores of 41 and 18 with the bat.
The news wasn’t as good for former No.1 ranked Test batter Marnus Labuschagne, who failed to make much of an impact in his first hitout for Glamorgan in their easy victory over Northamptonshire in Cardiff.
Labuschagne has batted at No.3 for Australia for the majority of his Test career and made a solid contribution in that spot during their 209-run over India in he most recent World Test Championship Final at The Oval in 2023.
There have been reports that Labuschagne may be pushed up to partner veteran opener Usman Khawaja at the top of Australia’s batting order for the match with the Proteas, to allow the likes of Green and Webster to slot into the top six.
Labuschagne only arrived in the UK earlier this month and managed scores of zero and four in his first match for Glamorgan, with the right-hander edging the new-ball into the slip cordon in both of his innings in Wales.
Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Matt Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster. Travelling reserve: Brendan Doggett. (ANI)
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