“We’ve been very pleased with the way he’s played when he has played”, selector Rod Marsh told reporters.
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But Holder said his young and untried team would be confident and competitive in the three-Test series beginning in Hobart on Dec.10.
“(Boland is) bowling very well at the moment and is not far off selection.
International Cricket Council (ICC) chief executive David Richardson on Monday hailed the successful debut of day-night Test cricket and expressed hope that more boards will embrace the concept which can greatly enhance the traditional format of the game.
“Once Mitchell Starc went down I think everyone’s minds turned straight to Nathan Coulter-Nile”.
“His (Sheffield) Shield record would suggest that he can bat”, Marsh said.
Starc limped off the field during the first day of the third and final Test against New Zealand in Adelaide and scans later confirmed he had suffered a stress fracture in his right foot.
“In an ideal world we would have liked Coulter-Nile to have played some more Sheffield Shield cricket”, Marsh said.
The Australians are overwhelming favourites to sweep the series despite the absence of some key players including frontline pacer Mitchell Starc who is injured.
Smith also had glowing praise for senior paceman Peter Siddle, who battled back spasms and the loss of his ailing grandmother, to take his 200th Test wicket during the Test and hit the winning runs.
“When I played the game I never underestimated anyone”, he said.
That certainly won’t be the last day-night test match we will see – in fact it could soon become the norm in Australia.
Australia’s pace depth will be tested by Starc’s injury, which follows Mitchell Johnson’s retirement and another serious back injury for Pat Cummins.
Australia won the first Brisbane Test by 208 runs and the second Perth Test was drawn.
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Australia’s first Test squad to face West Indies in Hobart: S Smith (captain), D Warner (vice-captain), J Burns, N Coulter-Nile, J Hazlewood, N Lyon, M Marsh, S Marsh, P Nevill, J Pattinson, P Siddle, A Voges. “You got to believe you can get the better of them and if you do that then you start to gain respect and you will find yourself at the same level with them probably even past them”.
