If Australia’s cricket hierarchy are looking for signals regarding selection for the first Test against Sri Lanka, beginning in Galle on Wednesday, they should cast their eye further across the subcontinent for a reason to pick Cooper Connolly.
As the 16-man Australian squad arrived in Galle on Saturday, Pakistan and the West Indies selected just one fast bowler each for the first Test in Multan, and neither were given the first over.
More to the point, left-arm finger spinners claimed 13 of the 20 wickets to fall on the opening day.
Noman Ali bagged 6-41 and became the first Pakistani to claim a Test hat-trick, while the delightfully named Gudakesh Motie and Jomel Warrican took seven wickets between them. They were also the leading run-scorers for West Indies, batting in the lower order.
Connolly is only 21, a “veteran” of four first-class matches and yet to take a wicket in any of them, but increasingly spin-friendly conditions on the subcontinent have sent statistics beyond the Indian Ocean out the window.
His tidy left-arm finger spin is far more likely to take a wicket on a turning pitch in Galle than anywhere else he has played. And his batting in the lower order would be particularly handy.
Before Australia’s Test tour of India two years ago, Matt Kuhnemann was an occasional left-arm spinner for Queensland behind the leg-spin of Mitch Swepson.
But when Ashton Agar was failing to land the ball in the nets, Kuhnemann was rushed into the squad and played the last three Tests, claiming nine wickets at 31.
Now Kuhnemann is considered such a vital part of the squad he has made the trip to Sri Lanka fresh out of surgery on a broken thumb, sporting a substantial guard on his non-bowling hand when arriving in Colombo.
Cooper Connolly hits a boundary. (Photo by Philip Brown/Getty Images)
He was cleared to travel last Friday after batting, bowling and fielding at Allan Border Oval without pain.
Left-arm spinners are a preferred option on turning pitches. They can fire the ball into the surface at a pace which keeps the batter in their crease and the ball may either spin, with the possibility of catching a right-hander’s outside edge, or slide on and trap them leg before wicket.
Sri Lanka’s much under-rated Rangana Herath was a master at this. Short, podgy and unassuming, Herath claimed 433 Test wickets between 1999 and 2018.
While no one expects Connolly to be next Herath, he has been rightly identified as a player of the future in a team which is almost all over 30.
And this tour can be considered a free hit, with Australia already qualified for the World Test Championship final against South Africa at Lord’s in mid June.
It would be invaluable experience ahead of Australia’s five-Test tour of India in early 2027.
The same could be said for 19-year-old Sam Konstas but there is uncertainty where he would bat.
Having left Travis Head out of the first Test in India two years ago because of fears about how he plays spin in the sub-continent, he returned to the middle order in the second as Australia went 2-0 down.
Promoted to open the batting in place of the injured David Warner, Head played a significant part in turning the series around as Australia won the third Test and drew the fourth.
This would appear to be the logical approach again. And while there is an increasing Usman Khawaja watch after the 38-year-old averaged 22 and 20 in his past two series, he scored 333 runs at 47.57 in India during 2023 and averaged 45.67 in Sri Lanka during 2022.
As he was during the second half of the India tour, Mitchell Starc shapes as the only fast bowler required in the Test side, with Pat Cummins staying home on paternity leave. Kuhnemann would replace Cummins. Then there is the question of which way to go.
Sam Konstas takes a swing at the SCG. (Photo by Morgan Hancock – CA/Cricket Australia via Getty Images)
Todd Murphy could replace the unlucky Scott Boland. Murphy played all four Tests alongside fellow off-spinner Nathan Lyon during the 2023 India tour.
This would leave Konstas in the side. With Head opening Konstas could bat at No.3 with Marnis Labuschagne moving down to replace Head at No.5.
Or the selectors could act boldly, dumping Konstas to move Beau Webster and Alex Carey up a spot and slotting Connolly into No.7.
There is even the possibility of not picking Murphy, with Head and Webster both able to bowl respectable off-spin along with the Tasmanian’s seamers if required.
Whatever the case, there is the opportunity to pick Connolly now and for the future.
And if the Galle pitch turns square from ball one there can be no whinging, just as India did not complain when the Sydney pitch that decided the Border-Gavaskar Trophy seamed around. The Test ended inside three days.
“It’s good for Test cricket,” said India’s unusually magnanimous coach Gautam Gambhir said after the match. “There was enough for the bowlers, and there was enough for the batters as well. But that is what’s going to keep Test cricket alive.”
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