Bailey rules out possibility of Josh Inglis opening in BGT, wicketkeeper still in mix as pure batter

Australian team selection committee chairperson George Bailey said that wicketkeeper-batter Josh Inglis would not be considered as an option to open the innings as the debates and searches for the top batting spot continues ahead of highly-anticipated Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India at home starting from November 22 onwards.

The move to have Steve Smith slide back to his highly productive number four position after some mixed outings as an opener following David Warner's retirement and all-rounder Cameron Green's injury has once again left a vacancy for the opening spot, with several well-known domestic stars/fringe Australian players like Cameron Bancroft, Marcus Harris, Matt Renshaw and U19 stars Sam Konstas in contention to get the top spot. Amid all this, Bailey has ruled out that Inglis will get to open, however, he would be inserted into the batting order in case an injury occurs or a player continues to produce poor scores.

Since the start of 2023, Inglis has featured in eight first-class matches, scoring 736 runs in 14 innings at an average of 61.33, with four centuries and strike rate of 76.03. In the ongoing Sheffield Shield tournament, he is the third-highest run-getter with 297 runs in four innings at an average of 99 and a strike rate of almost 85, with two centuries and best score of 122.

Saying as quoted by Sydney Morning Herald, Inglis said, "There is no doubt the form is really fantastic at the moment - you have seen when he has been playing [for] Australia and then the ability to jump back into domestic cricket and dominate as he has, has been fantastic." "So [in] different series at different times of the year he would firmly come into the mix purely as a batter, and if the right opportunity opened up throughout the summer in the spots we think he is most capable of performing, then he would be firmly in that conversation as well," he added.

With Nathan McSweeney, Konstas and Harris in contention to be slotted into two vacant batting slots ahead of the Perth Test, Bailey said, "We have got three players who open the batting for their state and one player who bats three for their state, so four top-order batters to try to fit into three, so there will be some adjustments there."

"There is always the perception there is a little bit more pressure, the standard of cricket is higher so that is a great opportunity for seeing how players interact in a different team to what they're used to around their state. All of that is really important," he added.

McSweeney, a 25-year-old all-rounder, has done well for South Australia in the ongoing Sheffield Shield, scoring 291 runs in four innings at an average of 97.00, with a century and two fifties to his name and best score of 127*. In 32 FC matches, he has scored 2,086 runs at an average of 37.25, with six tons and 11 fifties in 63 matches.

Konstas, who featured in the U19 WC winning squad this year, is the second-highest run-getter in the Shield so far, having made 302 runs for New South Wales (NSW) at an average of 75.50, with two centuries and best score of 152. He averages 45.70 in six first-class matches, having made 457 runs with two centuries and a fifty.

Harris is a name which has represented Australia in the past, making 607 runs in 14 Tests at an average of 25.29, with three fifties. In the ongoing Sheffield Shield, he has scored 237 runs in four innings at an average of 59.25, with a century and a fifty and best score of 143 for Victoria. In 167 FC matches, he has scored 11,162 runs at an average of 39.72, with 29 centuries and 46 fifties and the best score of 250*.

The selection chair also called for more Australian left-arm spinners to be developed after New Zealand Mitchell Santner led the Kiwis to a historic win in the second Test against India and delivered the hosts their first series loss at home since 2012.

"I am happy to very much throw it out there that it is an incredible skill set in the subcontinent and we have seen that for many years. Realistically there is not a huge amount of players in domestic cricket that are doing it, so it is something we're looking to expose. It is certainly one of the reasons why we are excited about Cooper Connolly and his journey, still very much a work in progress with his left-arm spin," said Bailey.

With the Pakistan T20I series at home coming in November, Glenn Maxwell and Adam Zampa would not be leading Australia, with more likely candidates being newer stars like Matt Short, Inglis or Aaron Hardie. "We will give it (captaincy) to the person we deem the most appropriate," Bailey said.

"There is always opportunities for a bit more of an extended leadership group across the white-ball series and the way the strategy groups work and things like that. We will try to extend that group out a bit and keep trying to grow some capacity around leadership for when the senior guys are not there," concluded Bailey.

Australia T20I squad: Sean Abbott, Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Aaron Hardie, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Short, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa

Series schedule:

First T20I: November 14, Brisbane

Second T20I: November 16, Sydney

Third T20I: November 18, Hobart. (ANI)