One of Australia’s classiest bowlers to demolish the top order of the India A side in the second unofficial game at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), Michael Neser hoped to earn a recall for the national side in the five-match Test series of the upcoming Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25, starting on November 22.
But that has received a huge blow after he suffered a hamstring injury in Melbourne. Michael Neser, who narrowly missed taking a potential hat-trick in their A-game, limped off the ‘G’ after he hurt his left hamstring while bowling his 13th over of the innings, holding figures of 4/27. The audible groan has signaled his probable omission for the opening of the summer in Perth.
The 35-year-old, who missed the One-Day Cup match for Queensland with a hamstring injury, resumed his training leading into the A contest. The soft outfield at the MCG put an extra toll on his lower body after he played the Sheffield Shield game.
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The Pretoria-born, Michael Neser, was monitored by the national selectors for a long time and is unlikely to play the Perth Test. The right-arm pacer’s record in the Day-night clash at the Adelaide ground, which is nearly a month away, could come under the calculation.
Michael Neser is out of the Perth Test in BGT 2024-25 with a hamstring injury
In two red-ball games for the national side, he has picked up seven wickets at an average of 16.71 and a strike rate of 40.1, while in 107 FC games, the pacer has collected 374 scalps at an average of 24.18 and a strike rate of 51.1 with the best figure of 7/32 in an inning.
“It’s never nice to see a guy go down mid-over with an injury. He’s amazing with what he does with the new ball – swings it, hardly bowls a bad ball, and ran through the top order nicely today, which gave us the upper hand on the first day.” Beau Webster, who took 3/19 in his nine overs during the encounter, expressed at the end of the game.
The Boland-Neser dup, who have 42 wickets in 12 Tests between them at an average of below 20, demolished the Indian batting line-up, by reducing them to 4/11 in just 16 legal deliveries in the contest.
It was cool to watch from first slip, being in the ‘grippers’ as opposed to facing it. They’re world-class, both of them. They’ve been slamming away in first-class cricket for many years. When there’s a bit of nip in the deck, a bit of pace, they’re formidable, those two.” Webster claimed.
One of the biggest decisions to make for the Australian selectors would be how they rest and rotate their pacers Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins, and Mitchell Starc throughout the summer. The fatigue mental and physical of these three pacers was one of the reasons behind the two successive defeats in the series against India in the 2018/19 and 2020/21 seasons.
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Lance Morris and Jhye Richardson are also injury-prone and have been managed carefully by the management, just like Michael Neser. Sean Abbott is participating in the ODI series against Pakistan, while Cameron Green won’t be able to bowl in the entire summer due to back surgery.
The selectors have already been facing so many issues for the selection of the opening partner of Usman Khawaja, and now the injury of Michael Neser hasn’t been a good indication for them for the start of the summer.