Australia has made preparations to include uncapped fast bowler all-rounder Beau Webster in its team for the second Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test to be played with pink ball in Adelaide from 6 December. A News Corp report on Wednesday said Webster had been selected to replace injured fellow all-rounder Mitchell Marsh, who was in “pain” after the first match of the series, where Australia faced Australia over four days at the Perth Stadium. Had to face defeat against India by 295 runs.
The race going on between Beau Webster and Josh Inglis
Although there is a ten-day gap between the first and second Tests, if Marsh cannot recover in time for the Adelaide game after bowling more than ten overs in Perth, Webster has the chance to become Australia’s 468th male Test cricketer. There is a chance. Wicketkeeper Josh Inglis, who has been in excellent form in the Sheffield Shield, is also an option to replace Marsh if needed. But Webster can prove to be better than English due to his bowling.
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During the press conference after the match in Perth, Australian captain Pat Cummins said, “(Marsh) has been struggling with some minor problems since the UK tour.” After the defeat in Perth, head coach Andrew McDonald said, “Has he recovered? We’ll wait and see. We knew Mitch (Marsh) was a bit weak, but I thought his performance in the first innings was satisfactory. “
Who is Beau Webster?
Webster, who hails from Snug in southern Tasmania, has been performing brilliantly in Sheffield Shield cricket over the last 24 months. Since the start of 2022/23, he has scored 1788 runs at 51.08, which includes five centuries and nine fifties. And he is at second place in the list of batsmen scoring most runs during this period. He also took 30 wickets at an average of 29.30 in the last Sheffield Shield season. Recently, Australia A scored 145 runs and took seven wickets in their 2-0 series win over India A.
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He also performed brilliantly for Gloucestershire in the County Championship. During this period, he scored 233 runs at an average of 58.25 and took 16 wickets at an average of 21.25, which also included the best bowling performance of his career by taking 6 wickets for 100 runs against Derbyshire.
During the Sheffield Shield match against New South Wales at the SCG this week, Webster scored 61 and 49, while also taking five wickets. He took two wickets in the last over of the match, which helped Tasmania win by 55 runs. This was the state’s first win of the season.
Who else but Beau Webster!
Tasmania get their first W of the #SheffieldShield season! pic.twitter.com/EOqiQqAj9f
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) November 27, 2024
“(Webster) is a special player at the moment. Whenever I feel like we’re in trouble, I feel like I can throw him the ball and he’s able to create something,” Tasmania captain Jordan Silk told reporters. Whenever we are in similar trouble with the bat, he is able to get us out of it. He showed his class again in this game, scoring valuable runs in the first and second innings and then obviously taking the last two wickets. It was extraordinary and it really was. He wants the ball in those situations. He’s a great guy in our group and a real leader.”
“I know there’s been a bit of talk about him as a backup all-rounder (for the Test team) and if they go that way, I’m going to be there,” Tasmania captain Jordan Silk told reporters after the game in Sydney. “Very supportive of the move. I think he’s earned the respect of competing with those fast bowlers, and it probably took a year or two for people to really see that.”
(With inputs from IANS)
