Australia will have a new opener for the Test series decider against South Africa after Nic Maddinson and backup wicketkeeper Sam Harper were released from the squad. He is flying home early to turn out for New South Wales (NSW) in their Sheffield Shield match against Tasmania in Hobart, which begins on Friday. Meanwhile, veteran batter Steve Smith will undergo a fitness test on his troublesome neck. His exit means Matthew Renshaw is set to partner Travis Head at the top of the order.
Maddinson, whose recall for the tour came as a surprise, managed scores of 0, 48, 0 and 8 in his four innings in the series.
Harper has also been released from the squad and will turn out for Victoria in their Shield game against Queensland at the Gabba starting on Saturday. He had been drafted in as cover after Josh Inglis fractured his finger, but Inglis has since been cleared to keep wicket should Alex Carey run into any trouble. We’ve seen some good things. Is there a block at the moment around the 30s? Yes. He’s still contributing in terms of his ability to get through a number of balls.
“I don’t know if I’ve got anything further to add than I think everyone’s said over the last period of time.
“So it’s a decision around what that looks like if he gets through to the 30s again. What does it look like for the collective, and is it helping others around him and the team get the result that we ultimately want? “I think performance-wise, would you like more runs? Yes. It did allow us to set the rest of the team up the way that we wanted whilst we were working with the group we have.
So that’s okay.
