Australia coach Darren Lehmann says three debuts are certain for the ODI series against the Proteas.
Bowlers Joe Mennie, Daniel Worrall and Chris Tremain will make their appearance in the absence of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and James Faulkner, leaving Mitchell Marsh as the most experienced paceman on the tour.
‘We do turn over a bit in our one-day set-up because you’ve got to give the Test players a break somewhere,’ said Lehmann. ‘So we get our one-day players to chop and change a little bit, and they handle it very well.’
‘The great thing is it gives them [new players] a chance at this next level, so we’ve had someone like Travis Head come in and do really well for us.
‘We’ve done that since the World Cup final; making sure we’re giving everyone enough game time looking ahead to major tournaments – we’ve got the Champions Trophy next year and then looking ahead to 2019 (World Cup).
‘And the players adapt really well when we do that.’
Lehmann defended the decision to rest Starc and Hazlewood for the ODI series, wary of the upcoming Test series against the Proteas in Novemeber. He remained confident of the selections he has available to him.
‘We’ve got some good, young fast bowlers. It’s a great challenge for our young guys, they’re good young players and they’ll go well.
‘We’ve also got some good quality there with Hastings, who has played really well for us, Boland did well last series [in Sri Lanka] and then you’ve got the three debutants, who will play at some stage during the tournament.
‘We’re hoping they step up and I’m sure they will. They’ve got some pace, they swing the ball and we’ve got some variations.
‘We’re going to see some young guys go at it, and someone gets to make a name for themselves in a high-quality series.
‘Obviously you’ve got your superstars like, for us, Steven [Smith] and David [Warner] performing like they normally do, but it gives a chance for the young guys to show how they go about it. I’m sure it’s the same for South Africa.’
The first ODI against the Proteas is on 30 September at Centurion, following the one-off ODI against Ireland on September 26.
Photo: John Walton/PA Wire
