Baggy Green in sight

Lynn holding on to dream of Test spot

CRICKET: Big Bash weapon Chris Lynn has thrown his hat in the ring for a shock Baggy Green initiation, but says Australia must first put their “egos aside” against South Africa.

Lynn will return to the oneday international arena in Sunday’s 50-over series opener against South Africa in Perth.

It will be the Brisbane Heat star’s second ODI appearance for Australia after debuting against Pakistan at the Gabba in January last year.

Lynn, 28, is back in the international arena after overcoming a spate of serious shoulder and neck injuries which threatened his career. And he still harbours ambitions to play Test cricket for Australia, despite ruling himself out of Queensland’s entire Sheffield Shield campaign this summer.

Spots in the Test team for upcoming series against India and Sri Lanka are up for grabs following Australia’s recent failure against Pakistan and the balltampering suspensions of Steve Smith, Dave Warner and Cameron Bancroft. And Lynn is daring to dream, despite not going near a red ball this summer.

“The body is getting better and getting through the JLT Cup was massive for my confidence,” he said.

“You’ve got to walk before you can run and I’m at that stage at the moment.

“I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself, but if I happen to score runs in these three games then I’ll put my hand up for Test selection.

“But I think that’s a little bit out of the equation.”

Lynn must first look at finally firing for Australia following his recent failures in the UAE.

He only managed scores of 20, 14, 7 and 15 in four T20 internationals against the UAE and Pakistan, ensuring he is still yet to reach 50 in 15 matches for Australia. Australia lost all three T20 matches to Pakistan, mostly due to batting failures, and Lynn said they needed an attitude adjustment against the intimidating South Africans.

“We saw in the UAE we probably took too many risks,” he said.

“Maybe put our egos aside a little bit and just batting and spending time in the middle is the best way to do that. We played reckless cricket in the UAE. We want to play fearless cricket, not reckless, and there is a massive difference there.”