Haddin set to play in Derby tour match

Cricket365
July 22, 2015

Australia could well have wicketkeeper Brad Haddin back in their Test line up come the third Ashes Test in Birmingham, as he will likely play in the tour match at Derby in a bid to push Peter Nevill back onto the sidelines.

Haddin was forced to withdraw from the second Test at Lord's because his daughter, Mia, had taken ill. While he spent time with the family, Nevill made his debut and did superbly, taking seven catches and scoring a fluid 45 runs with the bat in the one innings he had.

As such, it will be unlucky for Nevill to make way, but the selectors and coach Darren Lehmann feel veteran Haddin deserves a chance to push for his place against Derbyshire.

Lehmann said: "Selection's always difficult, so Rodney (selector Marsh) and I will have to sit down and work out which way we go. We have to get Brad back playing cricket before we cross that bridge, if that makes sense.

"Just trying to work out what happens moving forward and hopefully he'll be available for the Derby game."

The other choice the selectors had to make before Lord's was whether to drop Shane Watson for Mitchell Marsh, and they did so. Lehmann was pleased that Marsh did well with the ball, making one choice a bit easier for Edgbaston.

The coach added: "It's always tough to have those decisions to make, one forced and one unforced. For us we were really pleased with both performances from Mitchell and Peter, I thought they did a really good job for us and injected some enthusiasm in the group, played really well and did their job, which was pleasing for us.

"For us it was about doing a lot better job than we did in Cardiff, I was really pleased with the way the players turned that around really quickly in a short space of time. It's a good thing for us to have that short break, they've got a bit more time to think about it.

"The media gave us a pretty torrid time in Cardiff and fully deserved, we didn't play well enough, it'll probably be the same for them for a bit. For us it's about getting on with the next game.

"We will have to play with the same intensity we had in this game, if we back that up then the result will look after itself."

The Derby match starts on 23 July and is a three-day fixture. Noe of Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Johnson or Josh Hazlewood will feature.