Selectors predict changes for Brisbane

Australia's squad for the first Test against New Zealand in Brisbane next month is expected to have a very different look from the 15-man group that was supposed to tour Bangladesh. The likely return of David Warner, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Johnson should immediately lead to three changes, while the different conditions could also bring changes to the attack.

Chairman of selectors Rod Marsh at the weekend declared "open season" on selections after the cancellation of the Bangladesh tour due to security concerns, and national selector Mark Waugh on Monday supported his views. The likely return of Warner from a fractured thumb, and Johnson and Hazlewood, who were to be rested from the Bangladesh trip, will be key factors in selection changes.

"There's three players straight away who you would imagine would come back into the reckoning," Waugh told reporters in Sydney on Monday. "And [there's] different conditions, you're not going to have two spinners at the Gabba. So, there are some guys who were picked on that tour who are going to be shuffled down the order a little bit, but you can't do anything about it.

"At least their names are there ... they got picked on an Australian tour so they can take comfort from the fact that they're definitely in the reckoning. The real thing is it's going to be a different 11 for the first Test in Brisbane to what would have been picked in Bangladesh."

Among the players who hoped for a baggy green in Bangladesh were the uncapped opening batsman Cameron Bancroft and fast bowler Andrew Fekete. Both men starred on the first day of the Matador Cup competition on Monday in Sydney, where Bancroft struck 176 against South Australia and Fekete picked up 4 for 30 in Tasmania's win over Queensland.

It is also hard to see the spinner Steve O'Keefe being called on during the summer in Australian conditions; in Bangladesh he was likely to play alongside Nathan Lyon in a twin spin attack. Australia's players now have only one-day cricket and one round of Sheffield Shield matches before the first Test against New Zealand, but Waugh said limited-overs form would be considered.

"It's a different format, but you've seen players picked from one-day cricket for Test squads before so it does carry over," Waugh said. "It's a different game obviously, you've got to bat for long periods in Test cricket, one-day cricket the most you can bat is 50 overs, but I think just the form, you can see if guys are batting and bowling well.

"If you're not doing well it can count against you more so. You want to see all your players performing well ... I'm not saying you can pick a guy from 50-over cricket, but if you're making runs and taking wickets it doesn't do your chances any harm."

Marsh had said at the weekend that he felt sorry for the players who could have expected a debut or a return to the Test team on the Bangladesh tour.

"You feel for blokes who would have gone on that tour and maybe even played in a Test," Marsh said. "We'll never know who was going to play in those two Test matches. No one will never know, except perhaps me and Darren [Lehmann].

"Although, we didn't really know, either, because we didn't see the conditions. It's just a terrible shame that we couldn't go, but you can't go against what the government says. They make the rules. I feel very sorry for the players from both sides because I'm sure it would have been a very good contest."