Australia's hopes of having Michael Neser available if needed for the Adelaide or Brisbane Tests have evaporated because of the severity of his hamstring injury, but there is a glimmer of hope that Jhye Richardson could be considered as a back-up option later in the series if his carefully crafted return to first-class cricket remains on track.
Neser, 34, suffered the injury on the opening day on the Australia A match against India A at the MCG and looks set to be sidelined until the start of Brisbane Heat's BBL season on December 18. Neser was unlikely to be selected as Australia's first-choice back-up seamer for the Perth Test even without the injury, with Scott Boland in line behind Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc.
Barring an injury in Perth, Australia are unlikely to need Boland for Adelaide given there is a nine-day break between the first and second Tests. But there is concern about the three-day turnaround between Adelaide and Brisbane, followed by a seven-day break to Boxing Day and then a three-day gap to Sydney. The quicks themselves and the team management have publicly stated that playing all five Tests without a change, as they did last year, is highly unlikely.
If two of the quicks were to go down, as they did in the 2021-22 Ashes and 2022-23 summer, then Australia would need another fast bowler beyond Boland. Neser's unavailability brings the likes of Nathan McAndrew and Sean Abbott into the frame. But it is understood there is hope that Richardson, 28, could be fit enough to be considered as he continues his careful buildback from injury and other physical issues.
Richardson took 1 for 19 from five overs at the MCG on Wednesday in his fourth List A game so far this summer to go with two second XI matches. He will not play in Western Australia's upcoming Sheffield Shield game against Victoria at the Junction Oval starting on Friday. But speaking after WA's One-Day Cup loss, Richardson said he was hopeful he could play in WA's day-night Shield game against South Australia at Adelaide Oval, strting November 23, which could also be Lance Morris' first Shield game of the summer.
"Pending selection, hopefully next game," Richardson said. "I'm still waiting to see what sort of restriction and stuff is put on that. It's a pink ball in Adelaide, and, you know, I like playing pink-ball games, so I've been pushing hard to get into that one, but we'll see how we go. Obviously, the plan's not 100% finalised."
Richardson's last Test match was a pink-ball game in Adelaide in 2021 when he took his maiden Test five-wicket haul against England. But he has endured a horror run with injuries since, including further shoulder and hamstring surgeries. On top of that, he has publicly acknowledged that a mental health battle has affected his physical conditioning. He is a different body shape to when he first started his first-class and international career and it has made him more susceptible to soft tissue injuries.
He has been bowling without interruption since his return in IPL 2024 but as a Cricket Australia contracted player, a decision was made during the off-season that his build towards a first-class return would be gradual. There was a period as late as September where it was thought he may not play any red-ball cricket before the BBL.
But since then he has strung together four List A games, taking 5 for 63, 3 for 36, 0 for 25 and 1 for 19 and two four-day second XI games for WA.
"It's been a little bit frustrating," Richardson said. "But I was told that at the start of this whole process. I was told it was going to be slow and very purposeful. So we're hopefully getting to the back end of it now, getting into some red ball [cricket]. Hopefully it's all worth it."
The second XI returns were hugely encouraging. He was on heavy restrictions in the first game against South Australia in early October, bowling just ten overs in the first innings and six in the second. But his performance against New South Wales in early November has changed a lot of thinking around his progression. He took 4 for 13 from 11 overs in the first innings and backed it up with 1 for 30 from 14 in the second. It was the most overs he had bowled in a game in over 12 months.
"To be honest, felt like I was alive again," Richardson said. "The bones and the muscles were a little bit sore, but that's a good thing. Means you've done something purposeful. Haven't had that feeling for a long time. So very happy.
"I think for the game, I bowled a spell of six, a spell of seven, and another two spells of six, or something like that. So they were relatively long spells, which is a good thing. I was able to sort of get into a bit of rhythm and feel what it's like to bowl a long spell again.
"I probably could have used another spell or two in there, but I'm very happy."
Richardson is still unable to throw from deep in the outfield due to the shoulder issue but he said it was manageable, while acknowledging fielding was an important part of contributing to the team.
He was asked whether he thought he could handle playing back-to-back Shield games in late November and early December, before the BBL break. "I hope so," he said. "I think I could."
Richardson confirmed he would go in the IPL auction but he did not have a target in mind in terms of his international return.
"It's [on] a game-by-game basis at this stage, especially with this process being a little bit slower," he said. "It's just looking forward to the game that I've got ahead of me. There's so much talk about who's going to be in and out with the Test squad and the changeover of personnel and stuff like that. But it's not something that I can afford to think about too much. If I put too much pressure on myself, then it's not good for anyone. So it's just about playing these games, performing and getting through that's the main thing for me."