Aussie quicks fit, ready to rumble

EVERY member of Australia’s Test attack is fit, firing and in career-best form.

That is the opinion of NSW captain Peter Nevill, an authoritative judge given he was behind the stumps when all four bowlers played in Canberra last week.

Australia’s batting order remains unsettled after the naming of a 14-man squad for the four-Test series against India that starts on December 6.

But Justin Langer and Trevor Hohns’s discussion about the attack they’re hoping will rattle some of the world’s best batsmen was relatively brief.

Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon will shoulder an additional burden this summer, in the absence of Steve Smith and David Warner, in terms of leadership but also the fact Australia have lost two of their most consistent matchwinners with the bat.

Nevill was thoroughly impressed with the quartet’s output at Manuka Oval.

Hazlewood and Cummins, playing their first Sheffield Shield game since recovering from back injuries, combined for a total of nine wickets while Starc hit the gloves “very hard” in NSW’s comfortable win over Queensland.

“They’re bowling as well as I’ve seen them bowl,” former Test keeper Nevill said. “Particularly the reverse-swing bowling. It was a fairly abrasive wicket in Manuka and they all bowled with a lot of class and a great amount of skill.

“They’ll be a very difficult challenge for the Indian team.”

Starc, Hazlewood and Cummins have been rested from NSW’s Shield clash with Western Australia starting Tuesday but Nevill rubbished the idea they could be underdone.

“They’re ready to go. You could play them tomorrow,” he said.