Hartley confident Burns will handle the big stage

Veteran wicket-keeper Chris Hartley predicted two years ago that his Queensland teammate Joe Burns would mirror Michael Clarke by lifting the quality of his batting if he received an opportunity at Test level.

That prediction will be put to the test at the MCG when Burns becomes the second 25-year-old in a week to be surprisingly elevated to fill a vacancy in the Australian team.

Burns will play in the third Test in place of the hamstrung Mitch Marsh, only a week after Steve Smith became captain when Clarke was ruled out of the rest of the India series.

Marsh could not be considered for Boxing Day after straining his right hamstring while bowling on the first day of the second Test that Australia won by four wickets on Saturday.

The 183 Burns scored for the Bulls in a Sheffield Shield match against NSW last month, in front of national selectors Mark Waugh and Trevor Hohns, was the catalyst for his promotion ahead of more experienced batsmen Adam Voges, Ed Cowan and Callum Ferguson.

Australian coach Darren Lehmann, who was in charge of Queensland two years ago where he saw Burns at close quarters, echoed Hartley by saying the right-hander had the make-up to succeed in Test ranks.

"We think he's got something about him," Lehmann said.

"He's a very good player against fast bowling, he's had a good couple of summers in shield cricket and his performances this year have been very good.

"He got a good 180 here against Doug Bollinger, and Trevor Hohns and Mark Waugh saw that and were very impressed."

Burns scored 140 on debut for Queensland five seasons ago and has 2651 runs at 43.46 from 37 matches. Ferguson is the only domestic batsman to match his feat of scoring a century in each of the past five seasons.

Paceman Ryan Harris was included in the 13-man squad and believes he will be fit to play after a quad strain forced him to miss the second Test. Peter Siddle was retained in the squad after being dropped from the eleven at the Gabba.

A self-confessed cricket tragic, Burns couldn't think of a better stage to make his Test debut.

"The day after Christmas when you're sitting on the back deck watching the cricket, it's a special day," Burns said.

"I remember playing in the backyard ... they're probably my earliest memories. I do follow the game closely.

"I love the game of cricket and I guess that makes Boxing Day even more special.

"Any Australian cricket fan dreams of playing in these sort of games ... it'd be very special."

Burns, speaking before he played for Brisbane Heat in their Big Bash League clash against Sydney Thunder last night, could hardly believe his call-up.

"I was pinching myself before, just thinking it may actually become a reality," Burns said.

"My dad didn't believe me."

Burns said it was bittersweet, given Queensland teammate Usman Khawaja would have potentially taken his spot if not for a serious knee injury.

"There's plenty of players that dream to be in this situation and you feel for them when other circumstances take it away," he said.

Hartley has watched closely as Burns has developed and said he was likely to make the transition to Test cricket as easily as he moved from grade ranks to the shield competition.

"It is this ease of acclimatisation that makes him so attractive to pick," Hartley said. "I get the feeling he is a bit like a young Michael Clarke, rising to every challenge and performing better as the difficulty increases."

Whereas Burns knocked down the door through a sheer weight of runs, the lack of them from Brad Haddin's blade is starting to cause some consternation in the Australian camp.

The 37-year-old Haddin has scored just 92 runs at 8.36 in the seven Tests since the end of last summer's Ashes series when he was a pivotal figure with the bat.

"We need Brad to make runs," Lehmann said after Haddin made six and one at the Gabba.

"We can't have our No.7 not making any runs. He knows that, he's working really hard on it."

Haddin has scores of 0, 9, 1, 13, 3 not out, 22, 0, 10, 13, 0, 14 not out, 6 and 1 since he made 493 runs at 61.63 in the last Ashes campaign.

*Squad: * David Warner, Chris Rogers, Shane Watson, Steve Smith (capt), Shaun Marsh, Joe Burns, Brad Haddin, Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Ryan Harris, Peter Siddle.

"Any Australian cricket fan dreams of playing in these sort of games ..."" *Joe Burns *

with AAP