Marsh, Pattinson added to Australia squad

NATHAN Lyon has fuelled speculation Australia will field two spinners at the Adelaide Test, saying he expects the pink ball to give him and his fellow tweakers an advantage.

Pattinson admits he was surprised to be added to the 13-man squad for the historic day-night Test but with the sudden retirement of Mitch Johnson, he finds himself vying with Peter Siddle for a spot in the Australian attack for the series-decider against New Zealand.

“Patto’s one of the best bowlers in the country … he has got enough numbers up there to play Test cricket”, McDermott said.

But Lehmann, the national coach and a selector, has floated the prospect of O’Keefe joining Nathan Lyon in the XI next week.

“It’s flawless, batters can’t see the seam”, the 28-year-old told reporters at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday. “It’s going to be pretty interesting”.

New Zealand bowled first in both matches, failing to impress with the new ball on either occasion.

“And for me sitting back and watching that, it was like the changing of the guard, and hopefully Mitchell Starc can have as an illustrious a career as Mitchell Johnson has”. “We know what talent he’s got, but unfortunately he hasn’t quite been able to deliver consistently”.

“At the start it was pretty hard work, having to make those changes, and I think a big part of it was getting back into a game and being my normal self again without worrying about my action”, he said.

Pattinson was also excited by the prospect of participating in the first-ever day-night test match and, after the first two tests were played on largely batsman-friendly pitches, he was hoping for a few grass on the Adelaide Oval wicket to help preserve the integrity of the controversial pink ball for as long as possible.

“I haven’t batted against one in a game”, he said. “I’ve no problem picking it up out of my hands!”

Pattinson has only played two Sheffield Shield matches so far this summer, but despite admitting that his call-up came earlier than he expected, the 25-year-old was confident his body would withstand the rigours of test match cricket.

McMillan featured in the inaugural Twenty20 global against Australia, made famous for NZ’s bucket hats, beige strip and Hamish Marshall’s afro.

Nobody at Eden Park for that match in 2005 would have predicted the rise and rise of the shortest format.

“It was a different feeling, nearly a carnival atmosphere”.

“It’s a piece of history and who knows in three or four years it might be the norm. Perhaps it wasn’t taken as seriously as what it should have been”, McMillan said.

“We’re heading to the Test with our eyes open and we’re not pre-empting anything”.