Sean ready: Fringe quick eyes 'dream' Test debut

Sean Abbott knows it isn't just his local knowledge that has earned him inclusion in Australia's preparations for next month's World Test Championship final in London.

But it doesn't hurt that the forever-on-the-fringes seamer may the best qualified Australian to give Pat Cummins and co a read on what conditions will be like at the venue where the Test side will play twice in two months.

Abbott will tonight (AEDT) play in his fifth first-class match for Surrey this season and his third at their home ground, The Oval, where Australia face India from June 7 and England (in the final Ashes Test) over the coming months.

And the verdict relayed to his Australian teammates by Abbott, who along with Michael Neser will join the Test training squad in the lead-in to the WTC final at his new home ground, is encouraging.

"We've exchanged some texts over the last few days. I just said, 'the wicket's been bloody quick – push those slips back, brother'," Abbott told cricket.com.au from London.

"The pitch we played on last week was bloody quick. The ball was flying through  … There was probably more nip in it for slower guys, there was a little bit of swing, but I can assure you there was some pace in the wicket."

Abbott added that emerging Surrey paceman Gus Atkinson "almost bowled the Jeff Thomson ball at the WACA a couple of times; he had the thing flying over (wicketkeeper) Ben Foakes' head," during their recent win over Middlesex.

The assessment will be music to the ears of an Australian side eager for an advantage over the Indian team that defeated them 2-1 on low, turning pitches earlier this year.

For now, Abbott remains a little way back from adding a Test debut to his 20 white-ball internationals, although the presence of just four specialist pacemen in Australia's squad named for the first half of their UK mission means both he and Neser are live chances of featuring in the coming weeks.

Image Id: AB1E0DC19D28460E9DBEEC9522B4A6AA Image Caption: Abbott has played 20 limited-overs matches for Australia // Getty

The Aussies used six different fast bowlers during the most recent Ashes series (seven if you include allrounder Cameron Green) in 2021-22, while their last tour of England saw five quicks rotated.

Both of those campaigns featured just five Tests, compared to the six in eight weeks Australia are set for this time.

"That's the dream, to get the Baggy Green," said Abbott. "I'm not delusional at all about the talent and calibre of the players in the squad, the guys waiting as well – ‘Ness’ is playing good cricket over here, but there's some unbelievable talent back at home going in the right direction as well.

"The first priority was to come over here and play some cricket, learn a lot and take that home with me … then obviously the Ashes are on and you definitely want to be over here when that's on, and then if anything happens you can be seen as an option."

While Neser has made waves with his performances for Glamorgan, including a hat-trick at Headingley, Abbott's numbers with the ball this season are comparable and he is playing in the higher division of the two-tiered County Championship.

Like Neser, Abbott has been one of the nearly men of the Test side for the past few years and a victim of the supreme skill of the ‘big three’ quicks Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood. The elevation of Scott Boland into that mix has only heightened the competition.

Abbott was part of extended home Test squads during the bio-secure bubble summers, while injuries have also played a part in limiting him to featuring in just 36 first-class games over the past five years.

It is a major part of the reason he has gone back to Surrey after his first spell with the club in 2021 lasted only a few days due to a hamstring injury, which then consigned him to a fortnight of quarantine back in Sydney.

A recent moment of realisation with Surrey's captain reinforced his reasoning for pursuing a return.

"I was sitting the car with Rory Burns on the way home from the ground. We're pretty much the same age and I've played almost 80 first-class games. He's played 100 more," Abbott said of the former Test opener who is 18 months his senior but has indeed featured in 178 matches compared to the Australian's 76.

A gap with his Australian contemporaries has also become apparent. Neser, for instance, has played nearly twice as many matches as Abbott since the beginning of the 2018-19 summer.

That the Queenslander, and not Abbott, has been rewarded with two Test caps over the past two summers is likely no coincidence.

The pair are now being mentioned in the same breath by selection chief George Bailey, a testament to incoming NSW coach Greg Shipperd's recent endorsement of Abbott: "His control of line and length, his pace, is just right for the amount of movement he can generate in the air."

The 31-year-old’s depth of bowling knowledge has only been enhanced by his experience at Surrey. He has formed a lethal combination with fellow overseas bowler Kemar Roach, the West Indies speedster, and former Australia ODI swing king Dan Worrall, now playing as a local player in the UK, to have the reigning champions on top of the Division One standings after five matches.

He has also scored at least 30 in four of his five innings, having averaged 33.66 with the bat in first-class cricket since the beginning of the 2018-19 Australian season.

But given how much Abbott has trained and played with the Australian pace battery at state level, he understands a dream Test debut is no certainty.

Image Id: 9D7F7B92297E4A9CACCD0580B0419366 Image Caption: Abbott has taken 14 wickets at 26.78 for Surrey this season // Getty

"It can be a little bit daunting. You look at how good these guys are and wonder, 'geez, how am I ever going to get a game?'" he said.

"You know you're close, but I've been watching just how good these guys are in Shield cricket. There's absolutely no reason they shouldn't be there getting their opportunities.

"While I say it can be difficult and daunting, that's the nature of the careers we have. It's also the really fun part about it.

"It'd be boring if there wasn't all this talent. You want it to be challenging and I look at it like, if I got that chance to play, it'd make it all that more rewarding."

And if it doesn't happen, Abbott will still have a smile on his face.

"If I'm not there playing or running drinks," he said, "I'll probably be there in the stands with a beer cheering them on anyway."

Australians in the County Championship 

Durham: Matthew Kuhnemann

Essex: Daniel Sams (T20s only)

Glamorgan: Marnus Labuschagne, Michael Neser

Gloucestershire: Marcus Harris

Hampshire: Nathan Ellis, Ben McDermott (both T20s only)

Kent: Wes Agar, Kane Richardson (T20s only)

Leicestershire: Peter Handscomb (April and May)

Northamptonshire: Chris Tremain (April 6-23), Jordan Buckinhgam (May 1-21), Sam Whiteman (until August), Chris Lynn (T20s), Andrew Tye (T20s)

Somerset: Peter Siddle (until July), Cameron Bancroft (until May 7)

Surrey: Sean Abbott (until July), Dan Worrall (UK passport)

Sussex: Nathan McAndrew (until July), Steve Smith (May 4-21)

Warwickshire: Glenn Maxwell (T20s only)

Yorkshire: Mickey Edwards (UK passport)

2023 Qantas Tour of the UK

World Test Championship Final: Wednesday June 7-Sunday June 11, The Oval

First Test: Friday June 16-Tuesday June 20, Edgbaston

Second Test: Wednesday June 28-Sunday July 2, Lord’s

Third Test: Thursday July 6-Monday July 10, Headingley

Fourth Test: Wednesday July 19-Sunday July 23, Old Trafford

Fifth Test: Thursday July 27-Monday 31, The Oval