Unexpected Aussie Test squad inclusion takes surprise net session role as Durban preparations underway

Watching Nic Maddinson middling the ball against Mitchell Starc in Durban on Wednesday, he looked a batsman at peace in his surroundings.

A week ago few would have imagined the left-handed would be in contention to feature on Friday, but here he was facing Starc in all his fury.

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A storm had roared through Durban early in the morning and the sky was overcast, adding to the confusion as to how the Kingsmead pitch will play in two days time.

But Maddinson was middling the ball, both while defending against Starc and when pulling throwdowns from Michael Di Venuto while alternating in the nets with Sam Harper, another late call up for the tour.

And each time he made contact with the ball, it sounded like a whip cracking, such was the sweetness of his timing.

Travis Head had fired a broadside at past players for their critiques of the current generation in a press conference prior to the nets session, which followed a savage critique from Matthew Hayden of the decision to pluck Maddinson from relative obscurity, something he said was “disrespectful” to Shield cricket.

But Head was more than happy to dig in for the New South Wales captain, who has overcome a battle with testicular cancer to return to the crease and, potentially, the Australian Test team almost a decade after first debuting.

Head, who batted two nets down from Maddinson, had earlier delivered a stinging swipe at the criticism the current squad has received from former players prior to the session.

“I think it’s unfairly judged a fair bit from a group of past players, pretty much that put the bullet through a lot of players, which I think is unfair,” Head said.

“But that’s what they’re paid to do. Some of them need a job, so they go after us, and that’s totally fine.

“This group is strong enough to deal with those sorts of things. That’s how it is. It’s unfortunate sometimes to have some of that feedback from a generation of players that we have huge respect for, but that’s the caper.”

He pointed to the success of Mike Hussey in his 30s as an example of what can happen in international cricket when a mature player is in tune with his game and said Maddinson had demonstrated his capabilities.

“He did an enormous amount of work in Shield cricket leading up to obviously what he’s gone through over the last 12 to 18 months,” he said.

“It is probably a surprise only because he’s been sort of out of sight, out of mind over the last few years going through stuff.

“But he is a great human being and hugely talented. Like Ron (McDonald) said yesterday, he brings huge flexibility to us in where it can bat in the running order.

“And with a few injuries here and there, that’s what we need right now - mature guys who know what they need to be doing.”

But if Head was happy to land a pre-series blow in press, the vibe at Wednesday’s session was largely positive and relaxed as players greeted journalists and others that they knew.

After a lengthy net session, for example, Steve Smith chatted with former Test opener and fellow Sutherland district cricketer Phil Jaques, who was in Head’s press conference and is broadcasting for the ABC here.

Among the interested onlookers was Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg and Gold Coast Suns captain Noah Anderson, who was wearing the Australian kit.

The latter dined with Travis Head on Tuesday night in Durban, with the South Australian star saying they had met through former Suns coach Stuart Dew, who spent time with the Australian team after losing his job on the Gold Coast.

“He’s a good man. He’ll enjoy the week,” Head said of Anderson.

Starc was the only fast bowler in action after the rest of the cartel bowled on Tuesday, with Scott Boland extremely impressive in the session, bordering on unplayable at times according to those who were watching.

There is a rustic element to the nets at Kingsmead Stadium. As an example, Starc’s run up took him from lush grass and over a bare patch covered with sand before hitting the strip proper.

A fifth net was a mud heap with a massive puddle in the middle after the downpour overnight.

There was also a contrast between the tourists, who batted on spicy decks in the nets, and the hosts, which were able to train in the middle on the ODI pitch in the middle that was used during the recent white ball series against Australia.

And there was a rough and ready element initially when Smith cursed loudly after edging a throw down. It followed on from a similar level of frustration in the nets yesterday, but as Merv Hughes told foxsports.com.au recently, he loves it when Smith is agitated as it signals he is switched on.

“I like it when he’s at his fidgety best because that means he’s switched on when he comes out. It’s almost as though he’s got too much on his mind to relax,” Hughes said.

Marnus Labuschagne, who scored a century in a trial game on the weekend, was shaking hands and chatting away while carrying three bats, two of them bearing pink grips.

It is notable he was making runs when using that colour in the infancy of his career and he was both chatty and lively during his session on Wednesday morning when alternating with Smith.

It was notable that the net pitches were turning and bouncing. Nathan Lyon, in particular, was getting the ball to grip and bounce when bowling to Smith and Labuschagne.

As a pointer to what the Australians suspect will happen in the opening Test, all-rounder Beau Webster spent the session bowling off-spinners instead of medium pace deliveries to Australia’s Nos. 3 and 4 before a brief stint batting.

Head, too, rolled the arm over late in the session despite saying he is “not a training bowler”.

As Jaques said in a casual chat watching the session, it does tend to turn in Durban, with the pitch also less bouncy than those on offer further south in the country.

But the overcast conditions and storm added to the uncertainty as to how the pitch will play, which is why both squads are delaying making a commitment in terms of players until close to the match starting.

“The time of the year we are in now, the wickets probably haven’t hit the summer yet (and) they may not be as fast as what we think they may (normally) be. They may be on the slower side. They may spin a little bit more,” Head said.

“We’ve seen that in one days that we played so far. So whether that flows into the Test, we will have to wait and see. It’s always hard to judge before you go into a Test series on what the wicket may or may not do.

“(We have not been) here for that long period of time, so you try and go back on historical data and what that looks like. That’s for Ron (Andrew McDonald) and Pat (Cummins) to worry about what that looks like.

“(South Africa) are yet to cut their squad down. But they’ve got all bases covered in terms of it is seams, they have got players if it spins, if they want speed, so we will wait and see.”

The pitch carried a green tinge two days out, though Australian coach Andrew McDonald suspects it will dry out as the match progresses with their no certainty yet as to who will feature in the match.

“You have followed us for many a year and it’d have to be quite compelling for us to shift into two spinners,” he said.

“Now over the next couple of days, that surface may push us in that direction, so you’ll see it dry out from afar and we’ll see it dry out up close, and we’ll see (about) the decision ... to play two spinners. But at the moment, we’re really open to what that team is going to look like.”