Test rookie Crane poised to spin into action for England in Ashes finale
England appear set to hand a Test debut to novice leg-spinner Mason Crane in Sydney.
Coach Trevor Bayliss has given the strongest hint yet that the 20-year-old will win his first cap in the Ashes finale, with England able to “look at some different people” as they try to break their duck in a series lost in Perth before Christmas. Since then, England have recorded a draw in Melbourne to ensure they will not suffer a third 5-0 whitewash in four Australia tours.
Crane’s graduation is not entirely contingent on England dropping badly outof-form Moeen Ali, but that seems the most likely scenario. Either way, if the leg-spinner does begin his Test career at the SCG on Thursday, he will be doing so on the same ground where his grade cricket tour Down Under last winter culminated in an unexpected Sheffield Shield call-up for New South Wales.
Asked if Crane is ready for Tests, Bayliss said: “There’s maybe no time like the present to find out. We think he’s a guy that has got the goods, and the more he plays at this level the better he will get.”
As for Moeen’s future, the short and long term may well be divergent. After the off-spinning all-rounder’s three wickets at an alarming cost of 135 each in four Tests so far, and only 136 runs at under 20 an innings, it is hard to have much current confidence.
He is a famously mercurial talent, however – a fact not lost on Bayliss. “At the moment, the number of runs and wickets makes it one of his lows,” said the coach. “But just a couple of months ago, we were singing his praises as one of the best all-rounders in the world.
“Mo is a free spirit, and one or two shots or wickets and he will be off and running. So I’m not concerned long term.”
England may yet pick both their spinners. Former NSW batsman Bayliss is well aware, though, that conditions have changed in his old backyard.
He said: “Normally it’s been the case in the past you can easily play two spinners, but looking at the wicket on TV, it looked like it had a decent covering of grass.”