Infotainment Factory: 'Potential' two-prong attack to frighten Test rivals

Fears around Mitchell Starc's fitness ahead of the first Test appear to have been quashed despite tearaway quick Lance Morris' selection in the Australia squad.

The Sydney Morning Herald had reported Starc was carrying a niggle with Morris in consideration for his debut on home soil, however chairman of selectors George Bailey confirmed a three-pronged attack of Pat Cummins, Starc and Josh Hazlewood are likely to be picked for summer the opener against Pakistan in Perth.

"Full expectation is they'll be fit and firing," he said.

Morris has had a number of close calls throughout his short career with Australian selectors impressed by his raw pace.

The Western Australian has played in the Sheffield Shield this season and taken 11 wickets, after coming off a stress fracture injury which ruled him out of the Ashes.

Bailey said he's happy with the progress from Morris.

"We clearly like the skillset there and have done for quite a little while," he said.

"An unfortunate injury for him over the winter and he's had to work had to get back playing and he's feeling really good. (He's a) bull at a gate in terms of wanting to get out there playing, as all players are.

"Where we're at with him at the moment is trying to get him to work backwards a little bit and try and get his mindset (right) with him if an opportunity arises during the summer, (figuring out) what does that look like for him to be at his absolute best and cherry ripe and respecting the fact he has come back off a back stress fracture which is clearly a debilitating and challenging injury to get over.

"But we're thrilled to see how he's progressed through the games with Western Australia, I think he's got better and better each opportunity and I know he's referenced in the past how much he loves being around the Australian team and particularly around those senior fast bowlers.

"... It's a unique skillset (he has), there's lots of areas where players can get better and improve but having that raw speed is pretty unique."

While Morris possesses pace similar to Starc, and is the likely replacement if the tall left-armer was unavailable, Bailey didn't rule out the possibility of both men playing side by side in the future.

"There's potential for it, interestingly with quicks everyone tends to look at it as a bunch and if one comes out then there's a running line that one comes in," he said.

"But I think much like a batting line-up, for the team as a whole it's about how that functions and what you want from each bowler, depending on the surface that you're on and who you're playing against and what you actually need from the team.

"Clearly both of those guys are our quickest bowlers so there's some similarities there, but I think as Lance continues to develop there's no reason why they couldn't play in the same team."

Another Western Australian quick that could force his way into the side in the future is Jhye Richardson, who returned for Western Australia last week, claiming five wickets with best figures of 4-36.

The outing was Richardson's first Sheffield Shield game since November 2022.

Bailey confirmed the 27-year-old will be 'in the frame' during future Tests.

"Thrilled to see him back, exciting to see the way that he impacted as quickly as he did," he said.

"He's shown he's unfortunate the run of injuries he's had over the last couple of years.

"The one thing he has done is every time he's come back, he's impacted straight away so there's clearly a high skill level there that we like and we're as excited as I'm sure he is and Western Australia and all the Jhye Richardson fans out there.

"He's one that I reference when you talk about guys that have been around the Test squad in the past, you throw him into that bunch of guys who are in the frame for opportunities going forward.

"That includes Scott (Boland), Lance, Jhye, Michael Neser, they've all had opportunities and we're excited about the opportunities they may get in the future."

While talking about the fast bowling depth within Australia's squad, Bailey shut down any suggestion four fast bowlers would be picked, offering a simple "yeah, no" to the possibility of Nathan Lyon not playing.

Lyon hasn't played for Australia since he injured his calf at Lord's.