It’s easy to forget, given all the chatter, that most of Australia’s squad for the first Test is locked in. It was a relatively lean week for Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne (who is bowling a lot of medium-pace bouncers) although the pair made runs in the opening round. Mitchell Marsh fell cheaply twice against Tasmania and didn’t return to the bowling crease as he had previously suggested he would. Nathan Lyon got through another 41 overs of work against Victoria. In the same game, Boland finished with the fewest wickets of the home side’s quicks (three) but was shaking off the early-season rust nicely. His round-the-wicket spell to Nic Maddinson was classy. His likely challenger as the back-up Test quick, Michael Neser, picked up four wickets against South Australia while Sean Abbott produced a reminder that he should remain in the conversation. Nathan McAndrew may not be a million miles away, either.
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