MELBOURNE – USMAN Khawaja is shaping as a likely Test debutant in Sydney next week, even if Ricky Ponting is fit to lead the side in the final match of the Ashes series.
Australian selectors are not considering substantial changes in the wake of the Melbourne Test. Instead, the only likely changes are a replacement for injured paceman Ryan Harris and also for Ponting if there is a negative report from his surgeon about the fracture in his left little finger.
Spinner Michael Beer is expected to retain his place in the squad but is no certainty to debut in Sydney. Instead, Steve Smith may reprise the role of specialist spinner that he filled in the mid-year Test tour to England against Pakistan.
Opening batsman Phillip Hughes is favoured to survive to play a Test on his home ground for a second time, despite averaging only 13.25 in his four innings against England in this series. Speculation about the severity of Ponting’s injury increased early yesterday when it was discovered he had left the ground shortly before play to have it re-examined.
While the captain conceded that the injury had hindered him more in the second innings than it had in the first, he insisted that was not the reason for the examination.
