Would love the chance to lead Australia's attack: Hastings

John Hastings, the recalled Australian paceman, certainly fits the hackneyed adage that a week is a long time in sports.

One week ago, the 30-year-old was in Sri Lanka preparing for the upcoming Twenty20 series but unexpectedly found himself drafted into Australia's One-Day International team after Nathan Coulter-Nile was sent home with a back injury.

Hastings grabbed his opportunity to take 2 for 41 and a career best 6 for 45 in Australia's wins in the third and fourth ODIs of the series. With spearheads Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazelwood set to be rested for Australia's upcoming ODI tour of South Africa, Hastings is likely to lead the attack in the matches against Ireland and the hosts starting later this month.

The Victorian said he would "love" to be named in the squad, which is set to be announced on Monday (September 5). "If I did have a chance to lead the attack, it would be something I've worked towards over the last few years," Hastings said on Saturday (September 3). "I never really thought that I would get that opportunity. But now that I've come back and done okay, I'd really be looking to stick my hand up there and try to be that leader for some of the young bowlers.

"I'd love a chance to lead the Australian cricket team's attack. That would be a big feather in my cap," he added.

A bustling bowler adept at consistently nagging batsmen, Hastings's style has been well-suited on the slower and lower decks in Sri Lanka but he is keen to showcase his versatility on the faster South African pitches.

"The thing that I really do love is proving people wrong," Hastings said. "The one thing that I don't like is being pigeonholed into certain types of surfaces and all that sort of thing. It will be another opportunity to show that I can do it on those types of pitches.

"It will be another challenge but I'm pretty confident I'll be able to adapt quickly and use that surface to my advantage," he added.

Hastings said he was excited about working with his former state coach David Saker, who will start his role as Australia's assistant coach in South Africa. "He (Saker) said to me 'you're never going to be able to bowl as quick as all the other guys so you need to be skilful, you need to be able to bowl at the death and you need to have all the different types of deliveries'," Hastings said. "That's one thing I learnt off him very early on and that has helped me throughout my career. He's very honest in his assessment of people and players."