Former selector Mark Waugh says West Australian speedster Lance Morris could play in the Boxing Day Test with his extreme pace suited to the MCG pitch.
An injury cloud hangs over Josh Hazlewood heading into the series which begins in Brisbane on Saturday, opening the door for a bowler to join Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc in the eleven.
Cummins and Hazlewood missed the second Test against the West Indies in Adelaide with injury though the skipper is expected to return against the South Africans.
Michael Neser cleaned up the West Indies’ tail on day four to match Boland’s three-wicket haul, but he remains the bowler most likely to come out.
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Both Waugh and Isa Guha tipped Boland to stay ahead of Neser in the Test pecking order for Brisbane.
Asked why, Waugh said: “I just think Boland is a better bowler than Neser – (he’s) just a yard quicker,” he said.
“I’d go with Boland. (It’s a) tight call.”
Guha agreed with Waugh’s selection, saying that Cummins and Boland fit into the same XI with ease.
“I think I agree purely because I think Boland likes being first change, and Cummins will come in and open with Starc,” she said.
“I think he has the ability to bowl long overs in the middle and come on at first change when the ball isn’t doing as much.”
But it was at Melbourne, for the traditional Boxing Day Test match, where Waugh said Australia could spring a surprise selection.
Boland stunned England in the Ashes last summer with 6-7 but but former selector Waugh said Morris could be an ideal pick.
The 24-year-old was called into an Australian Test squad for the first time last week, and made a serious statement in the Adelaide Oval nets.
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He terrorised Cameron Green with his speed before the all-rounder decided to step aside, and let Morris simply bowl at the stumps instead.
His speed – he clocked at 153km/h last Sheffield Shield season and once snapped Shaun Marsh’s bat in half – has generated plenty of excitement in Australian cricket circles. At just 24 years old, the speedster is seen as a Test star of the future.
Waugh suggested he could even be a star now.
“He might play in Melbourne. I reckon he might be suited to Melbourne,” Waugh said.
“Just because of the pitch. It’s not a big swinging and seaming ground, so I think pace through the air might be useful in Melbourne.”