Mitchell Swepson is eying the Big Bash League as his last chance to push for a Test return in Sri Lanka, with Australia’s hopefuls left to make their case with the white ball.
Swepson and Brisbane Heat teammate Matt Kuhnemann are vying to be on the plane to Sri Lanka in January, with two Tests on the spin-friendly Galle wicket.
Australia’s domestic schedule means that by the time of the next Sheffield Shield game, the second and final Test in Galle will have already started.
While Nathan Lyon will be the first-choice spinner, Sixers tweaker Todd Murphy is expected to join him as a second offspinner.
Kuhnemann, Swepson and Melbourne Renegades recruit Zampa then loom as options if Australia play a third spinner, given their ability to turn the ball the other way.
Melbourne Stars pair Glenn Maxwell and Beau Webster could also find themselves on the tour, given they can play as offspinning allrounders.
Webster has been released from Australia’s Test camp to play in Sunday night’s BBL opener against Perth, while Maxwell is still out with a hamstring injury.
“Playing for Australia is always the goal I am striving for and while I’m not sure how many spinners they are going to take on that tour I would love to be a part of it,” Swepson told AAP ahead of the Heat’s title defence.
“All the Shield games are done now (until February) and the BBL is all we have in front of us.
“I’m not sure they will pick blokes based on the BBL but bowling well in any format helps.”
Swepson and Kuhnemann both have Test experience on the subcontinent, with Swepson playing previously in Sri Lanka and Pakistan in 2022.
He didn’t play on Australia’s last trip to Asia in 2023, with Kuhnemann instead impressing in that year’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Swepson has 17 wickets in the Shield for Queensland this summer and Kuhnemann has 18 for Tasmania.
Swepson, 31, said he was a better bowler now than when he played Test cricket in 2022. “I know when to attack, when to hold and defend and when to play a role the team requires,” he said.
“This is my 10th year playing for Queensland and I think that experience has really helped me.”Both the Tests I played in Sri Lanka were in Galle and they both are again. I felt like I bowled pretty well and that might hold me in good stead.
“Over in those sub-continent conditions they lean more towards the finger spinners so I know I have that up against me, but I think that as a legspinner I also get my accuracy as close to a finger spinner as possible.”Kuhnemann, 28, is now with Tasmania after leaving Queensland to get more overs in Shield cricket.
“For me, the pinnacle is red-ball cricket. If my red-ball game is going well, then that looks after my white-ball cricket,” Kuhnemann said.
“White-ball cricket I am pumped at. I have been pretty good the past few years. Hopefully, I can add a few strings to my bow.
“Whenever a sub-continent tour comes around, all the spinners around the country get excited and come out of the woodwork a bit.”
https://thewest.com.au/sport/cricket/test-hopefuls-left-to-make-sri-lanka-case-in-bbl-c-17081899
