Australia coach Mickey Arthur says all-rounder Dan Christian is making a strong case to be named in Australia's team for the Boxing Day Test against India.
Arthur and his four co-selectors will name a squad on Wednesday which is likely to include top-order batsmen Shaun Marsh (back) and Shane Watson (hamstring), who are recovering from injuries.
Christian has been in blazing form for South Australia, scoring 475 Sheffield Shield runs at 59.37 this season.
Arthur said he was happy for Christian to play for Brisbane Heat in Tuesday night's Big Bash League game at the Gabba against Melbourne Stars before joining a batting camp at the MCG on Wednesday.
The three-day batting camp, supervised by Arthur and batting coach Justin Langer, includes Michael Clarke, Ricky Ponting, Mike Hussey, Brad Haddin, Marsh and Watson.
Current Test batsmen Phil Hughes, Usman Khawaja and David Warner and Test hopeful Ed Cowan are playing for a Cricket Australia Chairman's XI in a three-day game against India in Canberra this week.
While Watson is likely to be rushed back into the side at the expense of opener Hughes, uncertainty surrounds Watson's role.
Amid speculation the star all-rounder will be moved to the middle order because of his bowling workload, Watson is no certainty to bowl in next week's Melbourne Test and may play as a batsman only.
This could open the door for Christian to play the role of all-rounder and bat in the top six, at the expense of either Khawaja, Hussey or Ponting.
Arthur expressed confidence in veterans Ponting and Hussey on Tuesday but added no one was guaranteed a game and they had to keep producing runs to be selected.
Arthur said he was unsure on the fitness of Watson and Marsh and this would be established overnight before the squad was announced on Wednesday.
"Our preference for balance of the team is always to try to have an all-rounder and if we've got one who we think is capable of doing the job, he will play," Arthur said.
Arthur said playing back-to-back Tests in Melbourne (December 26-30) and Sydney (January 3-7) would be tough on a four-man bowling attack.
"I see the spinner (Nathan Lyon) bowling a huge amount more and we need to be able to fiddle some overs from our batters," Arthur said.
Arthur said his philosophy on picking a team included naming your best six batsmen, your best four bowlers then picking a keeper.
"Dan Christian has done superbly well for South Australia. Stats will tell you that he could possibly be in our top six batters," Arthur said.
"If you can get some overs out of your best six batsmen, then that's a bonus."
AAP
Tags: cricket, sport, melbourne-3000, vic, australia First posted December 20, 2011 17:20:59
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