The Australian team has returned from their subcontinental tours and the area where their Ashes campaign seems to be on track is the bowling attack.
With Mitchell Starc expected to be fit, his collaboration with Pat Cummins and Josh Hazelwood has already raised the expectations among the fans.
The backup pace option is still vacant, though.
James Pattinson has been having terrible luck with injuries and been ruled out, while it looks like Jackson Bird will miss out due to injury as well.
However, this might work well for Jason Behrendorff, who is probably in line to be picked in the squad, after a stellar Sheffield Shield season and playing brilliantly in the recently concluded T20 series in India, where he accounted for four top-order wickets.
The 27-year-old bowled quick and swung the new ball, which makes him an exciting prospect. He also has a brilliant domestic record, with 123 wickets at a stellar average of 22.92. The other crucial statistic is his strike rate – a measly 43.9.
[latest_videos_strip category=”cricket” name=”Cricket”]
Behrendorff had a stellar 2016-17 season, picking up 37 wickets in seven games, at an average of 17.59. He also picked up a record 14 wickets in a game with the best of 9-37 in an innings, against the eventual champions Victoria, last season.
With sharp pace and swing in his repertoire, he will be a welcome addition to the Australian pace attack. Even though Australia already has Starc, who is also a left-arm pacer, Behrendorff provides something different.
Having been on the selectors’ radar for some time, injuries to others and his impressive returns over the last year or so make Behrendorff a prime candidate.
The Ashes is a long and hard series and the Aussies need good backups. Being a left-arm bowler also gives him an added advantage, as he makes for a good replacement if Starc needs to be rested.
Jason Behrendorff has done everything this year to get noticed by the selectors and his chances seem bright for the Ashes.
deccas
Guest
He'd have to have a pretty dire first 3 tests to get dropped this series. He;s played 10 tests, 6 away in challenging conditions most players struggle on when they get there. Most struggle on their first tour as well. He doesn't need to average 60 to not get dropped.
Giri Subramanian
Roar Guru
I think the top 5 will remain the same but the number 6 spot will be an interesting one. There are quite a few contenders. Maxwell, All-rounders etc..The Shield games also will tell us a lot as to who might be in line for that spot and obviously the wicket keeping spot is open as well. Wade will be lucky to be picked. It is almost certain to be between Alex Carey and Peter Nevill.
Giri Subramanian
Roar Guru
I think the 3 games ahead of the Ashes will be crucial for Renshaw and also Khawaja to build some confidence ahead of the Ashes. Both have had poor returns in recent times and are almost certain to make the X1 for the first test.
Don Freo
Guest
Doolan was not a terrible selection. We had few alternatives then. We have a wealth of batsmen now. Doolan just failed to grab his chance. If it was career, not form, Adam Voges would not be retired.
The danno
Guest
3 and 4 are two of your strengths. Choose a real opener.
The danno
Guest
It should always be on career form otherwise you make those doolan selections.
Don Freo
Guest
I don't have any "toroubles". Never have.
Curious George
Guest
Inglis....any relation to the goanna man? Inglis the rugby player is a bit of a dolt
Curious George
Guest
Here is a kleenex for your torubles Don
Don Freo
Guest
Bowling is their strength. Don't weaken it. Cartwright won't get a bowl, Marsh won't bowl at all and Turner is just support for Agar.
Don Freo
Guest
Bancroft will open, Inglis will keep. Klinger will miss out and Mackin will play ahead of Richardson (until Paris is ready).
Don Freo
Guest
Inglis will keep for the Shield games. He's a gem. True keeper and did some great things with the bat. I think he is eligible to play The Ashes...for the poms.
Don Freo
Guest
Renshaw is being wrongly type cast as stodgy. He has all the shots. He'll be fine. His ability to read a game is something special.
Don Freo
Guest
Would those averages change if you only went with the past 2 seasons? We do want current form, not career form.
Giri Subramanian
Roar Guru
I think Renshaw has to be persisted with. He is a good young player and did very well on his first tour to India. He did well against Pakistan as well earlier this year. Yes he has struggled in his last few tests but again he needs to be given a few tests at home before he can be judged. If Burns needs to be picked, he probably can be played in the middle order. Renshaw and Warner complement each other well at the top and the combination should be given little bit more time.
Giri Subramanian
Roar Guru
It will be interesting to see who will be picked as the backup. Will they go for Sayers or the x-factor of Behrendorff.
Giri Subramanian
Roar Guru
I agree that Broad and Anderson are still a force but again the latter has had one good series in Australia. Broad has been little better than Anderson. The pitches in Australia have become flatter and flatter and unless you have pace and bounce you are going to struggle. Anderson, in spite of his fantastic performances at home is going to struggle once the ball loses its shine. Broad hasn't been that great with the ball over the last year or so and has struggled even at home. Stokes possibly has the best chance of succeeding on Australian wickets but again his participation in the series is still up in the air.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
Cool. I think it was a single season, either last season, or the one before, I don't remember, where I went into the results to try and work it out and for that season his Adelaide results were amazing, but outside of that was pretty poor. But overall that's not too bad, so maybe that was just a weird season for him.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
Renshaw doesn't need to have a "standout" season, but he needs to score some runs. He's young, he's got time, if he gets dropped he can come back. A lot of batsmen, especially ones that are quite young when first selected, find themselves dropped at some point, go back to domestic cricket, work on their games, get better and then come back again. Many of the best players of all-time have had that happen. If there are certainly area's where he's getting "found out" regularly, then often the best thing is to work on them in domestic cricket before coming back rather than just persist in the team and try and work through all those issues on the world stage. I hope that he just has a good summer in the Ashes and doesn't need to get dropped. But the worry for me is the frequency of caught behind dismissals in recent times. He's been nicking balls he should be leaving alone a fair bit. If bowlers can just keep bowling balls a bit outside off stump and eventually he'll play at one and edge it, that's a problem. And one that I'm hoping he works out and goes on the score lots of runs. He also needs to just find some areas to pick up singles. Just find ways to keep the scoreboard ticking over. He has shown he can get stalled very easily. In that situation he doesn't need to start hitting boundaries, but just finding regular singles and getting off strike. He can play the role of holding down the other end while Warner goes, but to do that he needs to at least be able to rotate the strike and get Warner back on strike. He needs to make sure he doesn't make Warner feel like if Warner gets a single off the first ball of an over that Renshaw is just going to face 5 dots, but that more often than not he'll be able to find a single and get Warner back on strike.
Ronan O'Connell
Expert
Thornton has only once played a professional match with a speed gun present (BBL debut last year) and was clocked at 147kmh. After Starc and Cummins, Thornton has looked the next quickest bowler in the JLT Cup. Impressive for a 20yo.