Raw pace makes Morris a weapon but essential extra ingredient has tearaway primed for Test debut

 A month ago, Lance Morris had never been selected in an Australian squad and thought a Test debut was a year or more away.

He is now on the verge of becoming the 465th Australian men’s cricketer to earn a baggy green cap with the “Wild Thing” set to be unleashed at the SCG in the third Test against South Africa on Wednesday.

Morris is a tearaway fast bowler in the old-fashioned sense. Possessed with raw pace that can take the speed gun past the 150km/h mark, he will become Australia’s paciest quick since Brett Lee played the last of his 76 Tests in 2008.

In the 23 years since Lee made his debut, the Aussies have only ever selected one out and out speedster at Test level in Shaun Tait although he only played three matches from 2005-08 before injuries brought about a focus on T20 leagues.

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Fast bowlers like Mitchell Johnson and Mitchell Starc have nudged the 150km/h mark over the course of their career but in Morris, the team could have a weapon at their disposal who can unsettle the world’s best batters like England’s Jofra Archer did to Steve Smith even when he was in career-best form during the 2019 Ashes series.

(Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

Pace is an asset but accuracy is also essential at the top level and experienced teammate Josh Hazlewood said Morris is in control of his thunderbolts.

Having never previously been included in a Test squad, he was called in as a replacement option for the second match against West Indies but appeared stuck behind Scott Boland and Michael Neser.

But an injury to Starc, the chance to experiment with the bowling attack in a dead-rubber Test, and a two-paced SCG wicket have all combined to put 24-year-old Morris on the cusp of his first baggy green.

Australia have remained tight-lipped on their selection plans for the third Test against South Africa but coach Andrew McDonald has said any configuration is possible and Morris is firmly in the mix.

If Australia are chasing a like-for-like replacement for Starc, Morris is their man. 

“Lance obviously brings that extra pace that we probably lack with Starcy (injured),” fellow paceman Josh Hazlewood told reporters on Monday.

“Usually when you get that in a youngster, they spray them around a bit, but his accuracy is very good for that sort of pace. 

“There’s quite a number of guys on my ‘not-facing list’ (in the nets) and he’s at the top of the tree.”

Hazlewood himself returns to the selection frame post-injury and, having bowled with Morris during lunch breaks in the Boxing Day Test, said the West Australian was pulling the right moves to earn a call-up.

The SCG wicket typically lends itself to spin but with rain forecast Australia could opt to bring three pacemen in as usual, pitting Hazlewood, Boland and Morris in a race to claim what is likely to be two spots after captain Pat Cummins is selected.

“Everyone’s battling everyone at the moment. It’s good to have options. We’re all a little bit different,” Hazlewood said.

As was the case last summer, Hazlewood has missed the majority of Test matches with a side strain, having last played in the West Indies series opener in Perth.

The 31-year-old has been a lock for selection in recent years as a member of the so-called “big three” pacemen alongside Starc and Cummins but claimed he was not yet aware whether he would play in Sydney.

“I guess that’s what happens when you miss out with injury, you give other people an opportunity and they take it,” he said.

Lance Morris. (Photo by Mark Evans/Getty Images)

“I think that’s how I got my first go with Ryan Harris sitting out and Peter Siddle injured. 

“You get your opportunity then you put pressure on the older guys. I feel like that just comes and goes as your career goes along.

“(But) I’d be definitely disappointed if I missed out.”

If selected, Morris would become the fourth paceman outside the “big three” selected since the beginning of last summer.

Glenn McGrath, Australia’s most successful paceman and the man behind the annual Sydney Pink Test charitable initiative, had some words of wisdom for Morris if he received his Test call-up.

“Just enjoy it,” he said.

“Get out there, back yourself and the reason you got selected in the first place. You don’t need to do anything different. It’s probably a good team to come into. The boys are playing well. They’re winning.”

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