Burns not overawed by call-up to Gabba
IT is hard to believe, but Australia’s latest Test opener Joe Burns reckons he hasn’t been giving next week’s Gabba Test much thought.
The straightforward Queenslander, who played two Tests at No.6 against India last summer before being dumped for the West Indies and Ashes tours, was named yesterday in a 12-man squad for Thursday’s first Test against New Zealand.
The 26-year-old has beaten uncapped West Australian Cameron Bancroft for the opening slot vacated by the retirement of Chris Rogers.
“You don’t really have time to sit back and think about things too much,” Burns said yesterday at the MCG.
“You are always moving from game to game. That’s the beauty of domestic cricket these days.
“So it was a nice distraction just to have a lot of cricket to play and keep myself occupied.”
Burns said the intense media speculation about Bancroft and himself vying for selection had not captured his attention.
“My days include waking up, going to training, going home, going to bed, training, playing,” he said.
“I play enough cricket now to know that you don’t really waste your time or efforts in worrying about things like selection.”
Burns said his past two seasons as an opener for
Queensland will help him take on the job at Test level.
“I feel really comfortable and confident in that role,” he said.
“I’ve had some consistent success there, so it is very easy to just slide in and I guess the fact that the first game is at the Gabba, my home ground, makes it a little bit easier as well.”
Nine-Test batsman Usman Khawaja, the Queensland captain, has also earned a recall after two years out of the side.
Khawaja missed last summer’s Sheffield Shield season with a knee injury but scored a timely ton last weekend for a Cricket Australia XI against New Zealand in Canberra, where Burns also hit a century.
“It’s massive. I’m just happy to be playing cricket again,” Khawaja said.
“I was thinking about it this morning and at one point I thought, with the knee injury, my career might have been over.”
Test captain Steve Smith will set the batting order and is expected to move himself from No.3 to No.4 and send Khawaja in at first drop.
Khawaja, who made his Test debut in 2011, said he has improved as a player since he was last in the side.
“I think you’ll find it might be my third or fourth go at it,” he said.
“I didn’t take my chance the last couple of times. I’m hoping to take it now.”