Nic Maddinson's loosening hold on a position in the Test side hinges on Australia's fast bowlers making a swift recovery after selectors resurrected their all-rounder policy on Tuesday.
Unheralded West Australian all-rounder Hilton Cartwright is tantalisingly close to collecting a baggy green in the Boxing Day Test after being drafted into the squad to ease the burden on Australia's weary fast bowlers.
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Lehmann to stick by Maddinson
Darren Lehmann thinks struggling young batsman Nic Maddinson should get another chance at the MCG, but chief selector Trevor Hohns may beg to differ.
Pakistan may have left Brisbane without the win but the visitors have potentially forced a major change in Australia's game plan for the rest of the series.
It would not have happened if not for their gallant performance with the bat in the fourth innings, which forced Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc to run on empty as a desperate Australia clung on for victory.
![Test chance: Hilton Cartwright bowling for Western Australia.](/web/20161222163350im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/f/3/k/6/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gtf3i3.png/1482225467405.jpg)
The pair have come through the game uninjured but Cricket Australia will be monitoring their workloads very closely in order to avoid running their pace aces into the ground. Even if the NSW duo make it to the start line on Boxing Day, their chances of getting to their home Test in the new year will hinge on how much energy is expended in a bid to wrap up the series in Melbourne.
Maddinson needs them to be fit if he is to be any hope of holding his place in the side for the summer's two marquee Tests. Selectors can afford to be patient after two victories but scores of zero, one and four make for terrible reading for Maddinson, who many believed was lucky to get a call-up in the first place.
"We've had two pink-ball Test matches, so red-ball Test coming up and we know he's a fine player. He's just got to believe at this level," coach and selector Darren Lehmann said.
"I actually thought he did a really good team thing the other day, just coming in. I know there was some talk in the commentary and media that he probably could have gone up the order and done that, but Steve's really strong on keeping the batting order very similar.
"So he came in for two balls, tried to get the game moving as quickly as he could, so I disregard the second innings of this one."
Cartwright, who once batted for WA after tearing a muscle off the bone, is the major beneficiary of Pakistan's plucky resistance in the first Test. Although he beat a wide field, it may also have been a case of right place, right time for the Zimbabwean-born 24-year-old. Mitchell Marsh is short of first-class runs, Moises Henriques has a side strain, while James Faulkner's maiden shield ton was not enough to earn him the nod.
His selection will come as a shock to many however selectors signalled he was on their radar by naming him in the squad for the Chappell-Hadlee one-day series. If picked, he would likely bat at No.6 or seven.
"The bowlers got through a high workload in Brisbane and although everyone has pulled up OK, on reflection we wanted to give ourselves the option of including an all-rounder in Melbourne to ease that workload somewhat," interim head selector Trevor Hohns said.
"To do that we wanted a batting all-rounder, someone to bowl seam-up and capable of batting in the top six as well, and after considering several names we came to the conclusion that Hilton fits that bill. We have seen plenty of him, he has performed well this season and we believe that if called upon he will do an excellent job."
Cartwright's first-class numbers are steady rather than spectacular. He boasts just two centuries from 16 games though his average of 44.5 is well above that of the man he would most likely replace in Maddinson. Cartwright averages 42 with the ball but has taken only four wickets at 75 this season.
"I feel it's been very up and down," Cartwright said of his bowling, which held up during the Australia A series in winter but has fallen away this summer.