Darren Lehmann on Ashton Agar
Darren Lehmann has hinted that it’s the batting potential of Ashton Agar which might have got him the nod ahead of the veteran O’Keefe for the upcoming Bangladesh series.
O’Keefe had won Australia a test match single-handedly in India and in the other matches of that tour as well, his performances were there and thereabouts and it was really hard to imagine that he would not be on the flight to Bangladesh.
But, the Australian selection committee, much to the surprise of everyone, has kept him out of the touring party to Bangladesh and has put their weight behind Ashton Agar to do the same kind of role that O’Keefe had done on India tour.
Lehmann during his address to the media acknowledges that O’Keefe’s bowling was really satisfactory, but, he gave the impression that in his opinion, Agar is a little more versatile in comparison to O’Keefe and that opens up a lot of options for the think tank.
As per Lehmann, with Agar in the mix, the think tank can even go with a three man pace attack because they know that the Western Australian southpaw has it in him to do the job with the bat too and he can take the place of a specialist batsman in top 7.
And secondly his fielding is also a positive. He is a very agile young man and his presence brings a lot of energy and intensity on to the field.
Lehmann however stresses that Agar is not a guaranteed pick and Swepson, the other spinner in the squad, also has a chance of making it into the XI as the second spinner or it may also be possible that both of them play with the lead spinner Nathan Lyon. No combination can be ruled out yet.
