Melbourne [Australia], August 5 : Australian pacer Michael Neser suffered a right calf strain while training, but the veteran remains hopeful of selection for the South Africa tour in October.
Neser, 36, was not a part of the Aussie squad for the home Tests against Bangladesh starting next Thursday, due to return of star pacers Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood after a lengthy injury lay-off. The five-Test-old pacer has taken 22 wickets at an average of 18.90 and was a star of Australia's Ashes-winning campaign at home earlier this year, with 15 wickets at an average of 19.93, with a maiden five-wicket haul at his home ground in Brisbane and two other four-wicket hauls coming at Melbourne and Sydney during the high-profile Boxing Day and the New Year Test matches.
He was in full training mode as a standby for the Bangladesh series in case of injury concerns for the 'Big Three' pace duo of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood. But now he has been left in need of a month-long rehab following a running session. After this, he will get a chance to rebuild his bowling workload ahead of the South Africa tour, where he will get to be a part of a strong five-to-six man pace attack for the back-to-back Tests in October, as per Cricinfo.
Neser suffered a hamstring injury while bowling for Australia A against India A leading up to the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2024, and his Test dreams were shattered following that. He was given a central contract following his Ashes heroics last year and also did not feature in county cricket for Hampshire in winter to keep himself ready for Australia's hectic run of 20-21 Tests in the next 12 months. With an ageing, injury-prone pace attack, Australia selectors, medical staff and coaches realised the need of back up options, and Neser was one of those names.
Neser has credited his late career success at Test level to higher speed running and higher intensity of bowling sessions with lower overall volume. During the whole series, Neser consistently touched the 140 kph rounds and his sustained speeds were higher than ever.
Neser's injury concerns are the only issue that have come out of the training camp so far. Wicketkeeper-batter Josh Inglis did face back spasms while batting during a two-day centre wicket practice session, but he has faced the issue in the past and is expected to be fit for the first Tests. Australia's four quicks, which also include Scott Boland, are also in great shape, and it is likely a toss-up between Hazlewood and Boland for the final pacer spot in the first Test. Nathan Lyon, the lead spinner, is also expected to play after returning from hamstring surgery and did well during the centre-wicket practice at the Allan Border Field, bowling lengthy spells and picking up three wickets.
During the bat-off, Marnus Labuschagne, Jake Weatherald and Cameron Green got plenty of game time and produced half-centuries. Green and Beau Webster, two pace-bowling all-rounders, could co-exist in the same line-up, with Green possibly moving up to number five after the retirement of southpaw Usman Khawaja earlier this year in January.
Selectors have also added promising Queensland batter Jack Clyton for the Cricket Australia XI that will face Bangladesh in a match before the first Test on Thursday, with the practice match set to be a three-day fixture. New South Wales veteran Kurtis Patterson will lead the CA XI and all 13 players will be able to bat and bowl in the non-first-class tour match against Bangladesh.