Zampa in selectors’ sights for India Test tour
SECRET discussions are under way over the possibility of Adam Zampa becoming a shock candidate for Australia’s bumper Test tour of India.
Zampa has not bowled with a red ball since November 2019, but sources say the World Cup-winning leg-spinner is expected to play in NSW’s Sheffield Shield match against Victoria on December 1 in Melbourne.
While taking Zampa to India for the four-Test series starting in February is a long way from a formality – with one Shield game in three years hardly an ideal sample size – the white ball king’s name has been discussed by selectors who like his accuracy and bigmatch gravitas.
It puts enormous pressure on incumbent leg-spinner Mitchell Swepson, who had some promising moments in his four Tests in Pakistan and Sri Lanka this year, but didn’t slam dunk his opportunity.
Despite the potential battle of the leggies, the reality is Ashton Agar is perhaps the favourite to partner Nathan Lyon against India given reports out of Sri Lanka this year said the left-arm orthodox star would have played ahead of Swepson if not for injury.
Selectors swear by statistics from all touring Test nations that suggest left-armers perform better in subcontinental conditions than leggies.
However, if Lyon was injured, 22-year-old Victorian off-spinner Todd Murphy is shaping as the next cab off the rank to play a Test for Australia.
Murphy has played just five first-class matches, but impressed selectors playing for Australia A in Sri Lanka and will take on the West Indies alongside Agar next week in the Prime Minister’s XI game in Canberra.
The difficulty for Murphy in India is whether it’s possible to pick him alongside Lyon.