3 minute read

Glenn Maxwell is a chance to earn a red-ball recall as Australia consider bringing him in for Mitchell Starc in the second Test against Sri Lanka.

Australia are considering an almighty selection shock with Glenn Maxwell a chance to play in place of Mitchell Starc in the second Test against Sri Lanka.

Australia captain Pat Cummins revealed on Thursday that Maxwell will be an option for the Galle Test if Australia play just one quick.

Cummins said Australia would inspect the wicket again on Friday morning, but could go with an extra spinner in Maxwell if it looks as spin-friendly as the one used for the first Test.

"He'd play as a spinning allrounder at No.8," Cummins said.

"I thought he was just about the pick of the bowlers in the one-day series, he was excellent.

"If the wicket plays lots of tricks, the batting will be the area where you have to find those 20 or 30 runs somewhere.

"Last week we didn't need two quicks, so we maybe didn't need Mitchell Starc's class. We'll wait and see."

Australia will otherwise take an unchanged team into the second Test, with Travis Head to keep his No.5 spot and Mitchell Swepson acting as Nathan Lyon's main spin partner.

Maxwell was only brought into Australia's Test squad when Head suffered a hamstring injury in the preceding one-day series against Sri Lanka.

He was initially considered a big chance to play in the first Test, before Head's hamstring recovered.

The Victorian has not played a Test since September 2017, while his last first-class match was in late 2019.

But Cummins was confident that would not be an issue.

"It's pretty different first-class cricket here to what you might experience in the Sheffield Shield.

"It's a different pace, the wickets are so different. The role that we would see him with a little bit of bowling and extra batting at No.8 taking the game on.

"It might not be grinding out a hundred, but a quickfire 30 or 40 would be just as valuable."