Shaw open to keeping wicket for Australia in England T20s
The 23-year-old New South Wales batter has been picked as a T20 batter and wicketkeeper option for the five-match series starting Nov. 21.
New South Wales batter Lachlan Shaw, who is in Australia's T20 squad for the England series, said on Thursday he is willing to keep wicket, Cricket Australia said.
Shaw learned of his national call-up after New South Wales lost to Tasmania in the Sheffield Shield last Sunday, and he admitted it was not something he had expected at this stage of his career.
National selection chair George Bailey described the 23-year-old as a talent for the future.
Josh Inglis has been left out of the T20 squad so he can prepare for Australia's four-Test series against New Zealand this summer, which leaves the keeping duties to Shaw or Victorian Sam Harper, and neither has played international cricket.
Shaw said national selector Tony Dodemaide had left the door open for him to be picked as a specialist batter if Harper keeps wicket, as Ryan Hicks has done for New South Wales this season.
"Keeping is definitely something I love doing, and something I want to do as well," Shaw said.
Shaw has kept wicket in the first two one-day matches of the New South Wales season and for Australia A against India A last month.
He was named New South Wales one-day captain by coach Brad Haddin, a former Australia wicketkeeper, and he also led the Sheffield Shield side when Nic Maddinson was called up to the Test team.
Shaw has scored five half-centuries from nine first-class matches, with a top score of 68 and an average of 34.18.
Australia's five-match T20 series against England begins at the MCG on Nov. 21 and ends at Manuka Oval on Dec. 2.
Shaw joined the Sydney Sixers squad in late 2024 as a local replacement for Steve Smith, and he has since established himself in New South Wales' domestic setup.
