Batting at No 3 good spot to fire up Joe Burns

Queensland cricket coach Stuart Law has said that he wants Joe Burns, who has replaced injured Mitchell Marsh in the Australia Test squad, to bat as high as possible in the order if he is picked to play the Boxing day Test against India.

"I'd really like to see him bat in the top three," Law said.

"I'd hate to see him sitting around waiting to bat because he'd be a nervous wreck by the time he got in. He doesn't sit around and watch very well -- he's up and walking around because he just wants to be out there playing cricket.

"I'd like to see him bat at No. 3 instead of torturing the kid by sitting him in the dressing room on Boxing Day batting down at No. 6," the coach was quoted as saying by Sydney Morning Herald.

Law revealed that the 25-year-old batsman, who is all set to become Australia's 441st Test player, rejected a contract extension in order to put pressure on himself to score runs.

"He's knocked back an extension with a contract just to say: 'I want to put myself under pressure to score runs', and that's refreshing in this day and age when players want their money up-front and before they actually achieve anything," Law said.

"That's a great thing and in modern day cricket -- in the modern day sporting world -- that's pretty rare. He loves to put himself under pressure, he's a great kid and matured a lot over the last 12 months and that maturity has created a new path for his cricket," he added.

Just hours after being named in the Test squad, Burns was hit in the ribs while facing Dirk Nannes during a Queensland versus Sydney Thunders match in the Big Bash League.

He, however, scored 28 runs from 23 deliveries and dismissed any suggestion that the injury threatened to thwart his likely Test debut by telling the media: "I'm pretty sore, but I'll be right."