Who are Australia new boys Marcus Harris and Chris Tremain?

Ahead of their Test series at home to India, Australia have included two uncapped players in their squad, and The Cricketer has all you need to know about them

Australia have included uncapped duo Marcus Harris and Chris Tremain in their 14-man Test squad to face India in December. If you're wondering who these two new players are, The Cricketer has you covered...

Marcus Harris

Harris is a 26-year-old left-handed opening batsman who plays for Victoria and averages 35.55.

He has enjoyed a bumper year in the Sheffield Shield so far, scoring 437 runs at an average of 87.40. This included a massive 250 not out against New South Wales at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

This is not the first year that Harris has impressed. In the 2017/18 Sheffield Shield, he scored 706 runs at an average of 41.52. However, this has still been a long journey for the former Western Australia opener.

In 2011, at the age of 18, he shot to prominence when he made 157 in a Sheffield Shield match against Queensland and became the youngest Australian to score 150 in first-class cricket. After that point, he struggled to live up to the hype, and only managed 2047 runs at 28.43 across 41 matches for his home state.

A move to Victoria followed in 2016, and he has not looked back. Since then, he has scored 1951 runs at 47.58, and has finished inside the top 10 highest run-scorers in every season spent at Victoria so far.

"Marcus Harris has forced his way into the squad after an impressive start to the Sheffield Shield campaign for Victoria, and in recent times has performed in high-pressure matches, including Sheffield Shield finals," said chairman of selectors Trevor Hohns. "Not only has he made plenty of runs, he’s displayed the mental application we believe is required to compete at Test cricket.”

^{Marcus Harris scored 250 not out against New South Wales in October}

Chris Tremain

Tremain is a 27-year-old right-arm medium-fast bowler who also plays for Victoria, with an impressive average of 23.31.

This is not the first time that Tremain has featured in an Australian squad. He was included in the squad for their ODI series away to South Africa in 2016, and played in all but one of the matches, taking seven wickets at 36.42.

He is currently the second-highest wicket-taker in the Sheffield Shield with 24 wickets at 20.45. This sort of form is not new for Tremain. In the 2017/18 Sheffield Shield season he finished as the leading wicket-taker with 51 wickets at 21.07 (12 more than second). The year before he finished the season in third, taking 42 wickets at 18.97.

Like Harris, Tremain's upsurge in form coincided with a move to Victoria. Finding it difficult to break into the New South Wales team (an attack which most recently included Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon) Tremain moved the MCG and has not looked back since.

In four full seasons with his adopted state, the tall fast bowler has finished as their leading wicket-taker twice, and established himself as one of the most consistent performers in Australia.

“Chris Tremain has been performing consistently with the ball for Victoria," said Hohns. "His form in the Sheffield Shield has seen him become the second highest wicket-taker in the competition this season. He has also been a consistent wicket-taker over the past two seasons, and thoroughly deserves his place in the squad.”

^{Chris Tremain took 51 wickets at 21.07 in the 2017/18 Sheffield Shield}