After Phil Hughes’ duck on debut, many have questioned his ability to be the opening batsman in the Australian Test side.
With some outstanding performances in first-class cricket lately, Hughes found himself in the Australia A side, knocking up two centuries in the four games he played before being selected in the Test team.
There’s no doubt he has the ability to open the batting for the Australians, but when it comes to performing, Hughes doesn’t seem up to scratch.
With an average of 37.52 the left-hander finds himself at the lower end of Australia’s batting averages, not a feat to be proud of as an opener.
In his 12 Test matches he’s walked out to bat 22 times. Twice he has scored a century, and 19 times has lost his wicket for less than 50 runs.
Of late, Hughes has been in great form in first-class cricket but seems to struggle with the pressure of Tests.
In the current series against Sri Lanka, he has thrown his wicket away in all three innings, building a solid start and getting himself out with stupid, unnecessary shots.
Averaging only 25 in the series so far he really needs to lift his game in order to stay in the side and show Australia, and the critics, that he should be a Test opener for Australia.
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