The 20-year-old spinner is clearly still raw but his promising start suggests he could play his way into plans for Australia
Word is yet to reach us as to whether England’s cricketers ended up at Mega Munch on Sunday night following that surging late victory at Trent Bridge. Just off Nottingham’s slightly chaotic market square, it did a sterling job two years ago – the scene of Ollie Pope’s first doner kebab, apparently – after so-called Bazball first burst into life.
Although a bit has changed since. Of the XI that beat New Zealand that day with that breakneck chase of 299, only four remained for the 241-run victory against West Indies that secured a first Test series win for England’s men since Pakistan in late 2022. Pope, Ben Stokes, Zak Crawley and Joe Root are the survivors, and Matthew Potts is still in the squad, but Jonny Bairstow, Alex Lees, Ben Foakes, Jack Leach, Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson have either moved – or been moved – on. So much for it being a cosy club.