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Australia have unearthed two potential Test batting gems in Matt Renshaw and Peter Handscomb, but there are also plenty more gifted youngsters coming up behind them in the Sheffield Shield.
Young batsmen are again flourishing in the Shield this summer after the competition was dominated by older batsmen for several years up until the 2015-16 summer.
Among the top 20 runscorers in the Shield this season, there are nine batsmen aged 25 or younger. That comes after last summer nine of the top 12 runscorers were aged 25 or younger.
This increase in scoring output by young Shield batsmen the past two seasons has seen the Test selectors finally hand opportunities to young batsmen. Renshaw (20 years old), Nic Maddinson (24) and Handscomb (25) all debuted this summer.
In the seven years previous to that, Australia had given Test debuts to 14 batsmen and only five of them had been younger than 2008. That situation was understandable because during this period there was a dearth of talented young batsmen in the Shield.
In the 2011-12 Sheffield Shield season, of the top ten runscorers, only two were batsmen younger than 25. The following summer, only three of the top ten were aged less than 25. In 2013-14, that number fell to just one, and in 2014-15, there also was just one.
Renshaw and Handscomb were two of the batsmen who led the renaissance of youth in the last Shield season. This summer it’s being furthered by the likes of Jake Lehmann, Marcus Harris, Kurtis Patterson, Ashton Turner, Travis Dean, Hilton Cartwright, and Travis Head.
The leading runscorer this season among that group is Lehmann, the 24-year-old son of Australian coach Darren Lehmann. After a breakout Shield campaign last summer, Lehmann has backed that up by making 576 runs at 52 this season. With 1740 runs at 47, the belligerent left-hander has the kind of impressive first-class record which could soon put him in Test contention.
The question is whether Lehmann’s cavalier approach would bring him unstuck at Test level. Lehmann’s South Australia teammate Head appears to be next in line for a Test batting spot based on a ringing endorsement recently from coach Lehmann.
Darren Lehmann said 23-year-old Head was “not far away” from making his Test debut, despite being overlooked for the large Test squad for India. While Head’s career first-class record is uninspiring – 3087 runs at 35 – he has been in solid touch the past two Shield seasons, making 1149 runs at 38, including four centuries.
More importantly, as far as his Test aspirations go, Head has shone in the ODI format. The Test selectors have shown time and again that they can be won over by ODI form.
In ten ODIs this summer, Head churned out 474 runs at 53, cementing his place in the 50-over team and vaulting him into Test calculations.
Fellow left-hander Patterson deserves to be before Head in the Test queue, but hasn’t had the chance to press his case via limited overs internationals.
Since the start of last summer, the tall 23-year-old from New South Welsh has made 1273 runs at 49 in the Shield. And last winter Patterson was outstanding for Australia A, making 247 runs at 62 in three first-class matches against South Africa A and India A.
In the same innings that Patterson made 81 against India A, Western Australia all-rounder Cartwright cracked 117. The 25-year-old must be feeling a bit confused after playing solidly on debut in the last Test of the summer only to be overlooked for India.
He’s made 506 runs at 39 in the Shield this season, taking his career first-class record to a very fine 1103 runs at 44, to go with 16 wickets at 44. I’ve written recently about the appeal of both Cartwright and his WA teammate Turner.
The 24-year-old Turner is having a cracking Shield season with 546 runs at 55. Then there’s gritty Victorian opener Dean, who is perfectly suited to the longest form of the game. The 25-year-old plays within his boundaries, in a manner similar to Renshaw, and is prepared to graft long and hard if need be.
That old-school approach has helped Dean to be the second-highest runscorer in the Shield over the past two seasons combined (behind only George Bailey), with 1320 runs at 41.
He and Harris add to Australia’s growing depth in the opening role, with the likes of Joe Burns and Cameron Bancroft also waiting in the wings.
Harris is a curious case. Six years ago he became the youngest Australian in history to make 150 in a first-class game.
Just 18 years old when he made a stunning 157 for WA against Queensland in just his third Shield match, Harris spent an incredible eight hours at the crease, showcasing great patience and circumspection.
Harris continued to play in this cautious style over the following five years but struggled badly. After his first six seasons of Shield cricket he was averaging only in the high 20s with the bat. Then he made the move to Victoria last winter and re-emerged with a new, far more attacking style.
From dour to dasher, Harris’ strike rate of 68 this season is the highest of any of the top ten runscorers.
Australia’s Test batting line-up remains a work in progress, but they are developing encouraging depth in young talent at the Shield level.