Australian chief selector George Bailey is adamant Nathan McSweeney “has the game to succeed at Test level” after a former Test opener criticised his call-up as a “guess”.

Bailey responded to criticism levelled at the selection panel by his former Tasmanian teammate Ed Cowan as he said picking batters purely off the weight of runs at domestic level was “not how cricket teams work”.

Cowan, who played 18 Tests between 2011-13, told the ABC’s Grandstand Cricket Podcast that McSweeney was not an adequate pick to partner Usman Khawaja at the top of the order.

“The data would suggest at the moment in his career, he doesn’t have the technique nor the temperament to do it,” Cowan said, pointing to McSweeney’s first-class record of 358 runs at 22 when he batted within the first 10 overs for South Australia.

“And do you know what a selection, when the data doesn’t support your point of view, is? It’s a guess.”

Bailey refuted calls that the Redbacks captain was not cut out to open the batting and said part of the justification for his selection was that he “complements” other players in the line-up.

“I’d like to think it’s a little more than a guess, but I guess we could all run our fingers down the list of leading run-scorers and leading wicket-takers and just work our way through the top, but that’s not how cricket teams work,” Bailey told SEN on Thursday.

“The one-day team that’s played recently, I think that was a good example of that. There’s players in there that actually have the capacity to perform at one-day level, but one thing that was quite apparent was that they didn’t quite gel.

“They didn’t quite know how each of their teammates worked and what it looked like when they were in partnerships and working together.

“We certainly think Nathan will complement the players he has around him in the Test team.”

Bailey, who oversaw the decision to rest Australian stars from the ODI series decider against Pakistan on Sunday, said the crushing defeat was “absolutely disappointing” but the “actual planning behind it was sound”.

“We’ve been really clear that the priority for this summer was going to be the Test series, and by virtue of that, nearly every individual in that squad has had a different preparation,” he said.

“We may not see the full benefit of that training until even potentially the Sri Lankan series (two Tests in January-February), but there’s a bit of thought that goes into it.

“On one hand, we often stand accused of having an ageing Test team, but yet on the other hand, when we do get some games into some players who we see as the future of our one-day team – I think out of that team that played (in Perth), there’ll be seven or eight who will be part of the Champions Trophy squad.”

Bailey said acting white-ball captain Josh Inglis would “in all likelihood” not be selected for the first Test in Perth after making five flights in 10 days to play in both the ODI and T20 matches against Pakistan, but the demanding schedule was the reality of being on the fringes of the Test side.

He said experienced Queensland quick Michael Neser was unlikely to feature during the Indian Test series after he tore his hamstring following an impressive opening spell for Australia A at the MCG.

It leaves Scott Boland as the standout reserve pace bowler for the series, with uncapped pair Brendan Doggett and Fergus O’Neill other contenders among quicks who have played red-ball cricket so far this season.

“He’s a great all-round cricketer, and he would’ve very much been in the mix, so that was frustrating and disappointing for Michael to get that injury when he did,” Bailey said.

“The last I heard around that was that it would be a return during the Big Bash at some point, and knowing the challenges of getting your body up to the rigours of Test cricket, I think it’s unlikely that he would be in the mix to be a part of this Test squad during the summer.”