Joe Burns was a surprise inclusion in Australia’s 14-man squad for the upcoming two Test series against Pakistan.
Burns, who was overlooked for the Ashes tour, got the nod ahead of Marcus Harris and Usman Khawaja, despite scoring just 0 and 11 in Australia A’s tour match against the Pakistanis.
The Queenslander is averaging 40.40 from three Sheffield Shield matches with a highest score of 76. In comparison, Harris is averaging 53.20 with one hundred and two half centuries from the same number of innings.
Former Australian spinner Brad Hogg questioned the decision to recall Burns who scored 180 in his last Test appearance against Sri Lanka in February.
“I don’t understand why they’ve gone back to (Joe) Burns when Burns hasn’t really knocked the house down with a mountain of runs,” Hogg told SEN Afternoons.
“Harris is in form in Shield cricket, he is scoring runs left, right and centre at Shield level. You pick Australian teams from performances at Shield level and they haven’t done this – I don’t think Joe Burns is ready with the technique as I said earlier today.
“With the bowling that Pakistan have got, I just think they’ll be licking their lips with Joe Burns at the top of the order hoping they can get into Steve Smith with a hard new ball.”
Burns, 30, averages 40.10 with four hundreds from 16 Tests for Australia.
Australia’s clash with Pakistan begins next Thursday at the Gabba and you can catch every ball live on 1116 SEN!
Listen to Brad Hogg’s chat on SEN Afternoons in the player below