Australia selector Trevor Hohns concerned about 'lack of Test cricket' before Ashes

Melbourne [Australia], April 24 (ANI): Australia national selector Trevor Hohns has admitted that he is concerned about the lack of Test cricket the men's team will play leading into the Ashes.
Australia's tour of South Africa was postponed earlier this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the side will next play a Test against Afghanistan later this year. After that, Australia will square off against England in the Ashes.
"Very concerned about that, no doubt, and hope that they'll be plenty of Shield cricket -- and I believe there will be -- programmed leading up to the first Test. However, that won't help some of our players as hopefully they'll be fully engaged in the T20 World Cup," ESPNcricinfo quoted Hohns as saying.
"It's a difficult one, England is certainly playing plenty of Test cricket and we haven't got anything on the plate so it's a concern," he added.
There are now at least two batting positions available in the Test format following the announcement of a trimmed-down central contracts list. The central contracts list only includes three specialist Test batters -- David Warner, Steven Smith, and Marnus Labuschagne along with all-rounder Cameron Green.
"There's no secret that there are positions available whether that's middle-order or the top of the list. Yes, it is a concern because there's no standout but that's what we are challenging our players to really put their hands up at the start of next season then get into the Australia side and perform well when they do," said Hohns.
Hohns also said that the idea of offering separate white and red-ball deals was talked about but it was still some way off from being an option.
"It's an interesting conversation and while we have mentioned that we are not quite ready for that yet, but it may progress to that down the track because it's becoming more obvious that players are specialising in the different formats. Certainly, something to be looked at down the track," said Hohns.
"There's a little bit of focus on T20 cricket but we also try to make sure we remain focused on the fact that Test cricket to us, and hopefully to our players, is the prime form of the game. We see that as the top of the tree, but there is a T20 World Cup coming up so we've had to cover a core group of players we think will feature in this list," he added. (ANI)