There’ll be a lot of temptation to play Michael Neser: Jason Gillespie

With the Australian team expected to six tests in a span of seven weeks, their players' fitness will be tested. Bowlers, in particular, will have to manage their workload to ensure they remain fresh throughout the series.

Amidst all this, Jason Gillespie feels that, both, Michael Neser and Scott Boland might get a look in. This would be necessary considering their already depleted pace bowling reserves.

“There’s always a chance that Boland and Neser both play, and the reason I say that is the Tests are in very quick succession. The challenge for both sides will be managing those short breaks – can a quick get through five Tests in six weeks? 

“It’s got to be our shortest Ashes tour in history, I would’ve thought, in terms of time.”

However, for the first test, he expect Australia to field a full strength XI. This means that only one of Boland or Neser will make it to the side. 

“I don’t know which way they’ll go – I think (Neser or Boland) is going to be the decision, because they’ll definitely play Starc and Cummins, and they’ll definitely play Lyon and Green” 

“That’s going to be a real tricky one – I think there’ll be a lot of temptation to play Michael Neser because he’s been playing county cricket and he’s performing really well," Gillespie said.

Michael Neser has been in red hot form in county cricket, claiming 19 wickets at 25.63 and scoring 311 runs at 51.83 for Glamorgan.

After putting a stop to his playing career, Gillespie entered the cricket field in a different role - as a coach. Apart from currently coaching Adelaide Strikers in the BBL and South Australia in the Sheffield Shield, he also spent eight years in England with the Surrey and Kent county teams. 

Gillespie admitted that international tours have now been packed, with little to no practice or tour games. He also referred to the '93 Ashes series to point out how things have changed. 

“I remember on that tour, Matthew Hayden scored 1000 first-class runs, but he didn’t play a single Test match – it suggests they obviously played a lot of county cricket in between the games."

“I think everyone agrees that in an ideal world you’d have practice matches and tour matches, but you look at the schedules these days – 30 years ago there were no T20 tournaments, there were two formats of the game and there probably weren’t as many countries regularly playing," he said. 

“The year isn’t getting longer – there’s so much more cricket, so it’s a tricky one.”

The first Ashes test is scheduled to begin on June 16th, just five days after Australia finish taking part in the WTC final against India.