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Selection battle heats up for Ashes ahead

Harry273 new author
Roar Rookie
22nd March, 2019
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(Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
Harry273 new author
Roar Rookie
22nd March, 2019
0

Only a year ago, the Australian cricket selectors had selection drama over an apparent lack of opening batsmen for Australia.

The previous pair of openers, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft, had been a successful opening pair, winning the Ashes series together and having a good start to the South African tour. Then there was sandpaper-gate.

Just like that, as well as a host of other problems including issues with the team culture, the Australian Cricket team had lost both their openers and their best middle order bat.

Fortunately, there wasn’t a Test series for a while. The two new players that Australia enlisted for the job of opener were Aaron Finch, who had been one of Australia’s best ODI players for a while, and Marcus Harris, who had struck a golden run of form in the Sheffield-Shield matches leading up to the Indian Tour.

Just a year later, in the lead up to the Ashes, there is a different type of selection problem fronting the selectors. This time, six different players who are in contention to go on the tour as the openers and, with the Sheffield-Shield back underway, these players have been playing for a spot in the Ashes squad.

These players all played well in the returning round of the Shield but not all of them have kept up that form.

But who are the players in contention? First off, incumbent openers Marcus Harris and Joe Burns. Harris, off the back of his dominating performances in the first half of the Shield season, was given the opportunity against India. He performed well, without scoring a century, and was able to secure his spot for the Test series against Sri-Lanka.

Here, he had the opportunity to give the selectors every reason to book him a spot but failed to convert a start in Brisbane and couldn’t get going in Canberra. This was unfortunate for him as other players stepped up and got runs, leaving him seemingly on the outer.

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However, the resumption of the Sheffield-Shield gave him the opportunity to show why he was selected in the first place, which he did to the greatest of effect. He hit consecutive scores of 95, 174, 94 and 44, before two lower scores in a low scoring match against NSW, putting him right back on top of the pack.

Because of Aaron Finch’s disappointing series against India, and lack of chances to prove himself again in longer format due to white ball duties, the selectors went looking for a replacement. Their pick was Joe Burns. He immediately made an impression, making a brilliant 180 in Canberra, the first Australian ton of the summer and the eventual top score by an Australian batsman.

He continued this good form in his Shield return but hasn’t topped the score sheets in a while. He has also signed on to play County Cricket with Lancashire, where a run of good form could make all the difference.

Matt Renshaw was a possibility to replace Finch for the Sri-Lankan series but missed out in favour of Burns. He had a consistent first half of the Shield season but hasn’t been able to score as many runs as he might have liked coming back. Renshaw will also play County Cricket for Kent and could force himself into consideration if he can prove himself against the Dukes ball.

Matt Renshaw bats during a test match against India

(AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade)

One player who may not have been expected to make a bid for the team is Cameron Bancroft, but his performances in the recent Shield matches will have gone a long way to put him back on the map. Opening for a Western Australian side with a weakened roster, he faced a monstrous 621 deliveries over two innings against a strong NSW attack in the first match.

Since then, he has only scored one fifty but has still forced his way into the discussion and could do so further with runs in County Cricket for Durham.

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Also returning from suspension will be David Warner, who, with his 21 centuries and a Test average of 48.2 will be hard not to take into consideration. It is likely that he will be playing a lot of white ball cricket leading up to the Ashes and may not have much preparation for red ball cricket coming off the back of his suspension. There will also be the question of how to introduce the suspended trio (including Steve Smith) back into the team.

And finally, another player who will almost certainly go on tour is Usman Khawaja, even if not as an opener. Despite currently focusing on white ball cricket, both in India and in Australia’s defence of the World Cup, his Test opening average of 96.80 is hard to ignore.

This will no doubt be in the back of the selector’s minds should the selected openers fail to make an impact.

So how should the selectors make the decision? Most panels have a set of selection criteria and the Australian selectors will most likely have a set to guide them. Things that will probably be looked at could include a player’s:

1. Current form in the Sheffield Shield; as the Dukes ball is being used for all matches in the second half of the season.

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2. Success as an opener in the past for Australia; which is an important thing to consider as some players often can’t replicate Shield performances at the top level.

3. Experience and success in English conditions; they are very different to the Australian conditions. This will be an important part of the selection as the English team have very successful and experienced bowlers.

Even with a set of criteria, this selection will be one of the hardest of the team. There are so many different options and combinations that they could go with. How are the players going to react to playing in English conditions, how will the different playing styles of each player compliment their partners, do they go with experience or youth in the team?

All of these questions are becoming more and more important as the Ashes approaches, and there will no doubt be a lot of scrutiny over who is picked. At the end of the day, the selectors are there to pick the best Australian cricket team possible, and their selections will hopefully be a competitive combination of players that will fight to retain the Ashes against a strong English team.

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