Australia T20 star Tim David has been named for a shock 50-over domestic appearance for Tasmania, with coach Jeff Vaughan confirming that the batter wants to push for the 2027 ODI World Cup in South Africa.
David, 30, has not played a List A game since his four ODI appearances in the lead-up to the 2023 World Cup, when he filed in for the injured Glenn Maxwell in a five-match bilateral series in South Africa.
Prior to that, he played one List A game for Tasmania in November 2021. That came after a stunning England One-Day Cup tournament for Surrey, when he made two centuries and an unbeaten 52 in eight innings. His only other List A experience has been for Singapore in five Associate matches in 2019.
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"Pretty exciting, isn't it," Vaughan said on Friday. "It's something that's been spoken about the last few years, it's just been a case of at what stage could it align with his schedule and the playing schedule.
"We're fortunate [that] the next couple of games, it does align with his schedule from a franchise perspective. He outwardly says how much he loves playing his cricket in Tasmania and to play another game for Tasmania he's really excited for as well.
"But undoubtedly, there's another part of that with a 50-over World Cup around the corner. He wants to make himself available for that. He wants to keep playing in this format, learn it, be good at it, and then make it possible for the Australians to select him in that format as well. So yeah, he's looking forward to it."
It will be music to the ears of Australia's selectors, who have been keen for David to be available for ODI cricket. Australia's ODI side lacks finishing power following the retirement of Maxwell and they have been exposed in that area across their last four ODI series this year including the most recent series loss to South Africa.
"We'll probably name him around six, and then depending on how the innings goes, we might slide him up, and we'll get him into the action"
Jeff Vaughan
David's franchise commitments as a freelancer have prevented him from playing domestic cricket in Australia. He is not contracted and has not held a state contract since his days as a rookie in Western Australia before he began playing for Singapore. He also lives in Perth when he is not playing overseas. He has not played any cricket since the European T20 Premier League in mid-September.
But Vaughan suggested his appearance against Victoria might not be a one-off.
"We've got another game in Brisbane after game four [of the Sheffield Shield] that we've got on the on the table as well," Vaughan said. "But I think they might coincide with some Australian white-ball [games] as well. So, look, the conversation is play tomorrow and then hopefully the Brisbane game for us. We've also got a couple of games post the BBL that certainly we've spoken about. If it aligns with his schedule it'd be great. If not, we're happy to support him where and how we can."
Tasmania's game against Queensland is on Monday November 16. Australia have an ODI series against England on November 13, 15 and 18. The five-match T20I series against England does not start until November 21. David would only be unavailable for Tasmania if he were called up to the ODI side.
Vaughan confirmed he would use David in a similar role to how he is used in T20 cricket as a finisher. His two List A centuries have come at No. 4. His lone T20 century, for Australia in a T20I, came at No. 5.
"We'll probably name him around six, and then depending on how the innings goes, we might slide him up, and we'll get him into the action," Vaughan said. "We'll inject him where we think he's going to have the most impact. So, yeah, that's sort of standard-type role for Tim in the middle order around the six mark. He might bowl a couple of overs, be great in the field for us.
"I don't imagine he would be asking himself to play too differently. I think in that No. 6, we're hopeful that he walks to the wicket at the 30-35 over mark and he can close out the innings for us. Yeah, 15 overs in a one-day game is probably not dissimilar to what he does in a T20 game, right? Batting at No. 6, we won't want him walking to the wicket too early and before the 25-over mark. But if we can sort of inject him around 30-plus overs, it'd be great. And I think he'd play very similarly to how he does in a T20 match. There'll only be four out for him until the 40th over. So I think that'll be a pleasant surprise for him as well."