Australia have brought the quickest bowler in the country into the Test squad as cover for injured skipper Pat Cummins.
Lance Morris has flown to Adelaide to join the Australian squad ahead of the second Test against the West Indies on Thursday.
The paceman regularly clocks over 150k/h for Western Australia and played a key role in their Sheffield Shield-winning side last summer.
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Morris is on top of the wicket-takers’ list for this year’s Sheffield Shield with 27 scalps at an average of just over 18, including match figures of 9-82 against NSW early in the season.
The 24-year-old is only rivalled by Tasmania’s Riley Meredith as Australia’s fastest bowler, with the ability to pass 150km/h.
Queensland quick Michael Neser, who played his only Test in Adelaide last year, will also join the squad.
But Boxing Day hero Scott Boland is already in the squad and next in line to play if Cummins fails to overcome a quad complaint.
Cummins didn’t bowl in the second innings of the first Test, which Australia won by 164 runs, and his movement in the field looked significantly limited.
The 29-year-old was injured while bowling in the first innings and didn’t roll the arm over in the second innings, but is confident he’ll play in Adelaide.
“It‘s just a small strain, so normally about a one-weeker, but if you bowl and make it worse it can make it longer,” Cummins said.
“The physio might be less optimistic, but I think I‘ll be fine.”
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Speaking to Code Sports earlier this year, WA bowling coach Matt Mason provided some insight into the sort of speeds Morris can reach.
“He’s right up there with the quickest I’ve ever seen. My mind goes back to a game last year in Tasmania. He hit 152km/h in his first over of the day, that’s extreme pace.
“He generally averages around the 145-147kmh which is as quick as any of the guys playing internationally anywhere in the world so he is right up there and he does it easy. It looks like it’s easy pace for him.
“It was great sometimes watching him and Jhye Richardson go toe-to-toe at net practice when we had the speed gun out. You could see Richo stick one down there at 145 and then Lance just crank one up at 147 just to let him know he’s around.”