With David Warner set to retire during the home series against Pakistan that begins later this year, the Australian cricket team has begun looking for the next Test openers. The Australians will be aiming to line up both their replacements since another opener, Usman Khawaja, will turn 37 in December.
There are now three front-runners: Matt Renshaw, Marcus Harris, and Cameron Bancroft. Bancroft’s last Test match was in 2019, when he was benched during an Ashes series. Harris’s last match for Australia was in January 2022. Renshaw replaced Warner on the India tour earlier this year due to a concussion.
Notably, Australia’s Ashes 2023 team included both Harris and Renshaw.
However, Bancroft will get the first opportunity to build a claim because of his impressive performance in the Sheffield Shield. He has been included in the Australia A team for two four-day games later this month against New Zealand A.
The four-day competitions exclude Harris and Renshaw.
Adam Voges, who will captain Australia A throughout the series, said: “I think just through (recent) history of selection, that’s probably a fair assumption (on the trio leading the race).”
“With Harris the extra batter in the UK, Renshaw also there, and the runs Cameron has hit in the last year, I believe all three have definitely positioned themselves at the front of the line for the opening we know will come up.
“What we do have is these Australia A games plus six games of Shield cricket to be played before we get to the Test summer, and that will be a great opportunity for all three of those guys to really put their hand up and stick their neck out ahead of the others,” the coach said.
Marnus Labuschagne, who was recently left out of their provisional roster for the ODI World Cup, is now a member of Australia’s team for the one-day series.
Australia Wes Agar, Cameron Bancroft, Jordan Buckingham, Ben Dwarshuis, Caleb Jewell, Campbell Kellaway, Matthew Kelly, Matthew Kuhnemann, Nathan McAndrew, Nathan McSweeney, Joel Paris, Jimmy Peirson, Mitch Perry, Josh Philippe, Mark Steketee, Mitchell Swepson, and Tim Ward make up the four-day squad.
Australia Wes Agar, Ollie Davies, Ben Dwarshuis, Liam Hatcher, Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Ben McDermott, Todd Murphy, Josh Philippe, Matthew Renshaw, Gurinder Sandhu, Matt Short, Mark Steketee, Will Sutherland, and Ashton Turner comprise the one-day squad.
