Australia in Sri Lanka: Australia leaves door open for West Australian youngster Cooper Connolly to debut

Australia are leaving the door open to a debut for Cooper Connolly in the second Test against Sri Lanka. For the second consecutive Test, Australia will not pick a team until the morning of day one as they wait to get a proper look at what is expected to be a spinner’s wicket in Galle. But they are bracing for a drier wicket, which will likely spin more early in the Test. Coach Andrew McDonald has confirmed they will not settle on their side until they get a glimpse of the pitch on Thursday morning. The West Australian understands Connolly has not been slated to return home for a four-day clash with South Australia at the WACA Ground from Saturday, after teen opener Sam Konstas was sent back to Australia to play for New South Wales. Connolly travelled to Sri Lanka for the two-match series with little expectations of playing and Australian bosses — including selector-on-duty Tony Dodemaide — have insisted they are not using the tour as a development opportunity. But McDonald has declared Connolly would be up for the job if he was called on and said while the batting order is locked, they hadn’t settled on a bowling group. The match will not be played on the same wicket as the first Test, which Australia won by an innings and 242 runs inside four days. Intrigue surrounded Marnus Labuschagne on Tuesday evening because he faced Australia’s pace bowlers in a centre-wicket session, rather than batting in the nets with teammates at training. Although it appears he is now set to play. Two-Test all-rounder Beau Webster is the other player with question marks lingering because he did not bowl in Australia’s comprehensive win. Australia played three spinners — Nathan Lyon, Matthew Kuhnemann and Todd Murphy — in the first Test. Uncapped West Australian Connolly would be an option to either lengthen the batting order, or replace Webster as the all-rounder. Stand-in captain Steve Smith was a vocal advocate for Connolly being included in the 16-man squad and said on Wednesday he is another option to potentially go the other way” because the left-armer spins the ball in the opposite direction to Lyon and Murphy. “From what I’ve seen in the nets he bowls some really good balls,” Smith said. “He was pretty consistent where he was bowling in Dubai and in the nets here, and that’s kind of all you’ve got to do in these conditions. “It’s another batter who bowls more than handy spin and spins the same way as Matthew Kuhnemann.” Smith then confirmed to SEN “he will be talked about”. McDonald said they were waiting for a final look at the surface on Thursday morning but anticipated clearer skies would dry the wicket. “We have shifted two pitches across, the last wicket we used is pretty heavily watered-down so we are expecting we will be on the one we think we will be on for this Test match,” he told SEN. “It looks slightly drier than the first one, it has had a little bit more direct sunlight, there were a few storms before we arrived for the first Test match, there wasn’t a lot of sunlight on it. “We will have some decisions to make tomorrow and obviously leading in to that first ball. We may hold on our team just to see what happens and unfolds with the surface. “We expect this wicket will probably spin a bit more than the first surface.” Webster didn’t bowl at all in the first Test, while opening bowler Starc was used for just 13 overs and Murphy 17. McDonald said if the match was expected to move quickly, they would consider a tweak to the bowling unit. “I think the batting order we can fairly say will be locked away. It will be just about if the wicket does accelerate the game earlier how much bowling resources to we actually need and could we flip in to potentially an all-rounder,” he said. “If you think back to a couple of years ago in Sri Lanka, the Glenn Maxwell conversation there. Do you get that luxury of potentially being able to pick a player that gives you a little bit of both? That’s potentially the conversation that will unfold. That’s the conversation that unfolded leading in to the first Test match as well. “But we really like the feel of the three spinners and the ability to maintain that pressure. To have four frontline bowlers — three spinners and Mitchell Starc — I feel like Steve (Smith) had everything at his deployment. “That will be our consideration, but we will go through that and get as much information as we can.” Asked directly about the prospect of Connolly playing, McDonald said stand-in captain Steve Smith was happy with the balance of the side, but that they were willing to make a change if required. The coach did later hint they could send another player home once the team was selected. “He is here for a purpose and that is the reason why he is here. He is potentially a spinning all-rounder. He has got a long way to go and he is developing nicely,” McDonald said. “To see him work through what he needed to with Dan Vettori and the way he has come here, we feel like if he was given the nod then he would be able to do the job. “The winning team and the feel of that for the captain made a lot of sense, but we have just got to shift with whatever is presented and that’s the art of selection I think is to make sure you’re not dismissing all of the information that comes to hand to make the right judgements in the right moments.” WATCH THE AUSTRALIA V SRI LANKA TEST ON SEVEN AND 7PLUS ON THURSDAY FROM 12.30PM AWST