Ian Chappell believes Australia must play Lance Morris at some point in international Test summer

Perth: Legendary cricketer Ian Chappell believes Australia should give tearaway pacer Lance Morris a run at some point in the upcoming international Test summer.

Last year, Morris won the Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year at the Australian Cricket Awards and has now earned a call-up to Australia’s Test squad for the first Test against Pakistan at Perth starting from December 14, though he’s been on the fringes of the squad in the longer format for some time.

“That to me (against West Indies last year) was an opportunity to pick Lance Morris and they didn’t take it. It’s fine to shake batsman up at Sheffield Shield level, but you’ve got to find out if they can do it at Test level, and that to me was the opportunity to find out if Morris could do it at Test level and they didn’t pick him.”

“You have some tough decisions to make both as a captain and as a selector, and it’s your measure of your selectorial ability if you make those tough decisions, and I was disappointed they didn’t make it then.”

“But, they’ve got a lot of Tests so they’re going to have to shuffle the bowlers around a bit. I just hope at some point they don’t just pick Morris in a squad — they actually pick him in the team and find out what he can do,” said Chappell to Wide World of Sports.

Similar views were echoed by ex-fast bowler Mitchell Johnson, who wishes for Morris to be played in Australia’s first Test against Pakistan at the Optus Stadium in Perth starting from December 14.

“This summer is a great opportunity to blood some young or performing players, especially when it’s against two teams in Pakistan and the West Indies who have struggled in Australia for a decent period of time.”

“(Morris) should be the first of those. With Perth likely to present a fast and bouncy pitch, there would be no better place for the young tearaway to steam in for his Test debut,” he wrote in his column for The West Australian.

He further believes the upcoming summer may lead to “dramatic change” for the Australian side, citing that eight of the likely players in the playing eleven will be aged 32 or older. “At 29, Marnus Labuschagne is the youngest player in the expected line-up. It’s funny remembering back to when I was injured at 30 and trying to get myself back into the team.”

“I was hearing plenty of noise that 30 was too old as a fast bowler and that it was an age when you have peaked or are starting to slide out of your best form. It’s the building of the future that Australia must be looking at.”

–IANS