Australia may not know the availability of Test captain Pat Cummins until half an hour before play starts in Adelaide on Thursday.
The skipper is racing the clock to overcome a quad injury and take his place in the XI to take on West Indies in the second and last match of the series.
National men’s coach Andrew McDonald on Monday rated Cummins a “50-50” chance of being fit to play, but the news probably won’t be revealed until the toss.
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“The first step will be that he’s rid of all the symptoms around the quad, then once he’s handed over to us (coaching staff by the medical team) we can assess him from a skills perspective,” McDonald said.
“Until he’s handed over from the medical team, then he’s not on the table for selection (but) we feel as though that will happen pretty quickly.
“(Fast bowlers) do zero (training) the day before (a Test match) generally, so we can leave that to the day of the game in all honesty.
“We can assess him, give him potentially a light run the day before and then see how he pulls up on the day of the game.
“So we can leave it right up to the toss if we want. He’s our captain, we’re going to give him every chance to get out there.”
Scott Boland was already in the Test squad for this series and is the obvious replacement for Cummins if needed.
Boland made his Test debut last summer and took an astonishing 18 wickets at an average of 9.55 against England.
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But on Monday, Australian selectors jettisoned two new fast bowlers into the squad ahead of the day-night Test in South Australia’s capital.
Right-arm swingman Michael Neser was brought in, as well as West Australian speed demon Lance Morris, who can regularly bowl upwards of 150km/h.
Left-arm quick Mitchell Starc would be considered a lock to open the bowling with the pink ball in Adelaide, but the Aussies may yet opt to hand Neser a start – like they did last year – given his ability to swing the ball and the the difficulty for batters to pick it up under lights.
“Bowling last (in the first Test in Perth) and a short turnaround puts stress and strain on your bowling stocks,” McDonald said.
“We feel like two players coming in gives us coverage depending on which way we want to balance the attack, and with considerations given to the fact that it’s pink ball.”
It’s unknown who will be appointed captain if Cummins misses out, although Steve Smith is vice-captain.
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