Healy's XI: Aussie legend names his side for first Test

Australian cricket legend Ian Healy on SENQ Breakfast has named his starting XI for the upcoming Test against South Africa in Durban.

There are several big calls that Australia’s most-capped Test wicketkeeper has made. See his selections below:

1 - Travis Head

“Travis Head is number one for me. He laughed at reports that he should drop down to five, which I'm really happy with because I want him to master the opening position and get to his best. That means tightening up his defence, and his shot selection being a little better. He's got that many shots, he does confuse himself at times. So it's great to see Travis Head wants to be at the top because this is going to be one heck of a challenge against the South African bowlers."

2 - Matthew Renshaw

3 - Marnus Labuschagne

“The time he spent in the middle last weekend would've done him the world of good. The bowlers were slow, they were putting it right where he needed it, all his balance came back and his timing was perfect. He's going to be much better equipped, because of that run for the the swing and seam of Kingsmead. So Marnus has kept his spot at three.”

4 - Steve Smith

“Steve Smith just keeps churning it out, he retired after 61 runs on the weekend too. Marnus retired at 111, so those (top) four are good. They need to play straight, they need to dig in when the ball is going sideways and see if they can get through, so that the next couple of players can bat with a bit of freedom.”

5 - Cooper Connolly

“At number five, I've got Cooper Connolly. He's a young bloke, just over 20, and he's a former under 19’s captain. He's very highly thought of with extreme X factor when he gets going, and his pedigree is good. There are some technical issues that he's working on, so let's see how they look under pressure. That won't be easy for him at five for Australia.”

6 - Beau Webster

“Then I've got Beau Webster, right. So here's the interchangeable one if you want. Beau Webster for Nic Maddinson. If they must play Nic Maddinson, rather than leave him on the bench, I'd have him in this Webster position at six. You might even move Cooper Connolly to six and put Nic Maddinson at five. But Beau Webster, he's a great player and a great contributor. He bats well and he drags us out of trouble. He's a great slipper in the catching department. He bowls medium fast and off-spin at a height of about 6'6. So he's really valuable."

7 - Alex Carey

“You could swap Carey and Webster around, which is where they've been batting of recent times, but I really want to establish a number six batsman and give someone the chance to do that.”

8 - Mitchell Starc

9 - Pat Cummins

10 - Josh Hazlewood

“Then you've got Starc, Cummins, Hazlewood. They all look to be in decent rhythm and have got enough bowling behind them. Boland is the number one reserve. There's an issue that our reserve bowler is the oldest of all of them at 37. So very soon, we've got to start just sneaking one newbie into this line-up.”

11 - Nathan Lyon

“Nathan Lyon needs a really good bowl and hopefully he gets the conditions that suit him and he can just lock up one end and do his job. He has bowled way too few overs in the last two seasons for mine.”

On the bench.

“The people I've left on the bench, Nic Maddinson, Cam Green (injured), Sam Harper is the reserve keeper and a gun bat, and Matt Kuhnemann, a left-arm orthodox spinner," Healy said.

With a huge amount on the line, and the future of Australian Test cricket very much in question, Australian Chair of Selectors George Bailey has much to consider.

The final team will be announced prior to the toss of the coin in Durban with the first ball of the highly anticipated series being bowled on Friday at 6:30pm (AEDT).

Catch every ball of the series live across the SEN network.