Sam Konstas and Marcus Harris have been given the first opportunity to impress against the new ball

The race for the vacant Test opening spot is on with all of the major contenders named in Australia A’s XI to face India A in the first four-day match in Mackay.

NSW young gun Sam Konstas has been given first crack to open alongside Victoria’s Marcus Harris, with WA’s Cameron Bancroft listed at No.3.

However, it will be India A batting first after Aussie captain Nathan McSweeney won the toss and chose to field first at Great Barrier Reef Arena.

Australia A: Sam Konstas, Marcus Harris, Cameron Bancroft, Nathan McSweeney (c), Beau Webster, Cooper Connolly, Josh Philippe (wk), Fergus O’Neill, Todd Murphy, Brendan Doggett, Jordan Buckingham

 

India A: Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Abhimanyu Easwaran, Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal, B. Indrajith, Ishan Kishan (wk), Ntish Kumar Reddy, Manav Suthar, Navdeep Saini, Prasidh Krishna, Mukesh Kumar

Skipper McSweeney, who has also been thrust into the debate despite never opening the batting in first-class cricket, will bat at number four.

“Batting No.3 for South Australia, and pretty much my whole career, it’s not too dissimilar to opening,” McSweney told reporters in Mackay yesterday.

“All my prep is with the new ball, so I feel like my game’s ready.”

Although Konstas has been given the green light to show his credentials as Usman Khawaja’s potential Test partner, national selection chair George Bailey said the batting order isn’t set in stone for the two matches, or even the two innings of this match, hinting that a bit of shuffling should be expected.

“We’ve got three players who open the batting for their state and we’ve got one player who bats at three for their state – (we have) four top-order batters to try and fit into three, so there will be some adjustments there,” Bailey said.

“I think we’ll set that up for the first game, and then if we deem it necessary or feel like there’s something else we want to have a look at for the second game, we may change that.”

The India A bowling attack features several players with international experience such as Mukesh Kumar (26 internationals including three Tests), Prasidh Krishna (24 internationals including two Tests) and Navdeep Saini (two Tests).

Cooper Connolly and Todd Murphy offer the spinning options for the hosts before both will link up with the Australian ODI squad that faces Pakistan from November 4.

Connolly is in the squad proper while Murphy will join in an unofficial capacity to work closely with assistant coach Daniel Vettori, with WA spinner Corey Rocchiccioli to take his spot in the Australia A side.  

Australia A v India A series

Australia A squad: Nathan McSweeney (c), Cameron Bancroft, Scott Boland, Jordan Buckingham, Cooper Connolly, Ollie Davies, Brendan Doggett, Marcus Harris, Sam Konstas, Nathan McAndrew, Michael Neser, Todd Murphy, Fergus O’Neill, Jimmy Peirson, Josh Philippe, Corey Rocchiccioli, Beau Webster

India A squad: Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Abhimanyu Easwaran (vc), Sai Sudharsan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Devdutt Padikkal, Ricky Bhui, Baba Indrajith, Ishan Kishan (wk), Abishek Porel (wk), Mukesh Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Yash Dayal, Navdeep Saini, Manav Suthar, Tanush Kotian

First first-class match: October 31-November 3: Great Barrier Reef Arena, Mackay (10am AEST)

Second first-class match: November 7-10: MCG, Melbourne (10.30am AEDT)

India v India A intra-squad match

November 15-17: WACA Ground, Perth