PM Anthony Albanese may have missed his side face the England XI because he was getting married, but Test selectors will have liked Campbell Kellaway’s 82
Campbell Kellaway has offered a glimpse of why he is regarded as a future Australian Test opener, with an eye-catching 82 for the Prime Minister’s XI against England.
One year after Sam Konstas forced his way into the Test side with a century for the Prime Minister’s XI, Kellaway threatened to make a similar score on Saturday.
But while his hopes of a century were ended with a superb one-handed reflex catch by Tom Haines at first slip, Kellaway still impressed at Manuka Oval.
The Victorian’s runs helped the PM’s XI declare at 8-308, before what is effectively an England Lions side went to stumps 0-30 against the pink ball.
Kellaway’s runs are unlikely to have been seen by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Saturday, given he was marrying his partner Jodie Haydon at the time.
But they will not have gone unnoticed by Australian selectors, with Kellaway this month labelled a ready-made Test player by Victoria coach Chris Rogers.
With England opting not to use the match as a warm-up game for the day-night second Test in Brisbane, Kellaway’s runs still came against an attack that included Test-capped bowlers Josh Tongue and Matthew Potts.
Kellaway hit Tongue for two boundaries early behind backward square, and took on England left-armer Josh Hull when the tourists went short to him in the second session.
He hooked Hull for one six, cut him for another and hit a cracking pull shot to the boundary as he took 24 runs off two overs from the quick.
There was one chance when James Rew put Kellaway down on 22 at slip in the first session.
Kellaway’s 82 followed a half-century against an NSW attack of Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon and Josh Hazlewood earlier this month, when he endured a roughening-up from Starc.
It was that innings that prompted Rogers to label Kellaway the long-term successor to Usman Khawaja as Australia’s Test opener.
Meanwhile, Konstas had shown good signs early for the hosts in Canberra on his way to 36, with his shot of the day a drive to the long-on boundary off Tongue.
But any hopes of repeating last year’s century ended when he used his feet to Haines and skied the spinner to mid-on, one ball after clipping the Englishman to the mid-wicket boundary.
Nathan McSweeney also hit 63 for the hosts and young prodigy Oliver Peake 54, before both were dismissed by Potts (2-40) in quick succession.
Potts was the pick of the tourists’ bowlers, with he and Tongue vying to replace the injured Mark Wood in the second Ashes Test at the Gabba.
