Charting the still fledgling career of Matthew Renshaw, it becomes clear the 23-year-old has experienced more ups and downs at an age many Australian Test cricketers are yet to even debut.
Picked, dropped, picked then dropped again by 22, the Queenslander has grown up quicker than most.
And as he takes a break from domestic cricket after being dropped for the Sheffield Shield, the inevitable question is whether we’ll see him back in the baggy green. While his talent is unquestioned and age is very much on his side, the opener’s downward spiral in the game’s longer formats has now lasted 18 months and has seen him slip down the pecking order.
So where did it go wrong?
Renshaw’s career is an interesting case study in the mental difficulties of a young opening batsman. Picked alongside Peter Handscomb and Nic Maddinson in wake of the Hobart debacle against South Africa in 2016, the then-20-year-old made a strong start to his Test career.
On his debut he was pigeon-holed as a stoic, defensive opener after scoring 34 not out off 137 balls in the second innings in Adelaide. Six weeks later he would score 184 at the SCG against Pakistan and Australia seemingly had a ten-year cricketer on their hands.
He continued to impress. Two half-centuries in his first three innings of the 2017 tour of India underlined his ability to adapt on difficult wickets. And while his returns petered out in that series and the following tour of Bangladesh, they did so for most of the Australian top order, too.
Despite the leaner trot he was granted slack, and for good reason. His prospects remained high.
(AAP Image/Dave Hunt)
But soon after things started to go downhill and, at least in the longer format, haven’t truly recovered since. A poor start to the Shield season in late 2017 saw him fail to pass 20 in his first six innings and, as if to underline the fickle nature of cricket, he was replaced by Cameron Bancroft for the Ashes.
A virtual lock just months prior, he found himself on the outer.
In an interview with The Final Word podcast last May, Renshaw admitted to struggling upon his return home.
“I might have changed my technique a little bit going into Bangladesh to deal with those wickets, and I didn’t adjust very well coming back if I’m completely honest,” he said. “Then (in the Shield) I sort of just kept finding ways to get out.”
While some felt he was hard done by, Renshaw himself didn’t.
“I didn’t have the runs on the board which they asked for, so he probably deserved that opportunity,” he said.
Despite this he finished the season strongly, scoring three hundreds and a vital 81 not out in the final that saw him, in strange circumstances, whisked away to South Africa as cover in wake of the sandpaper scandal that engulfed Australian cricket in early 2018. But he would score just eight and five in Johannesburg, and that remains the last time he has played at Test level.
After that, Renshaw’s shift downhill was gradual rather than rapid. He moved to Somerset shortly after the Jo’burg Test and, in hindsight, rebranded himself as a cricketer.
Stoicism was replaced with style, and he would average over 50 in a six-game stint, including three hundreds. The most memorable of these was a rapid 112 off just 99 balls against Yorkshire, scoring more than half his side’s first innings total on a Taunton green top.
His third hundred would soon follow against Nottinghamshire. But now, more than 18 months on, that remains the last time he has reached triple figures at first-class level.
(AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade)
Luck, too, hasn’t gone his way. After his successful stint with Somerset, Renshaw was all but certain to be picked against Pakistan in the UAE but was concussed badly at short leg in a warm-up match. After the concussion (the fourth of his career) he struggled with the Bulls, averaging just 21.88 last season.
This season he has struggled again, averaging just 20.22 in ten innings without passing 50. Those two seasons at home were book-ended by another stint in the UK, with Kent this time, where he stumbled again in the four-day format.
His form of late in the Big Bash has been pleasing, however. Renshaw scored three half-centuries to be behind only Chris Lynn as the Brisbane Heat’s top run-scorer. He has said he enjoys the shorter formats to just bat without overburdening himself.
The path back into the Australian Test XI now appears a longer one, even though he is still reportedly at the forefront of selectors’ minds. And at 23, there’s little reason to rush a player that remains a 100-Test prospect.
As we hear often in this context, many players have been dropped for Australia and returned to forge brilliant careers. There’s good reason the Queenslander turned heads when he arrived on the scene, and not just for his refreshing positivity.
He has the temperament and skill set to thrive at the top. And while he is not showing those wares now, he’ll be back.
AREH
Roar Guru
Renshaw has significantly more upside than either Harris or Bancroft for mine, yet none have close to a strong case at the minute. Not even sure if tinkering with the top six - should it be required then - is worthwhile until after the Bangladesh series.
Tom
Renshaw is 23 and has already made the same amount of First class hundreds as Forrest… Terrible take lmao
Simoc
Guest
I remember a player called Peter Forrest who looked the real deal as a Ricky Ponting replacement. Very well organised and playing each ball on its merits . Got a ton against India in a memorable ODI game (the exquisite knock of Kohli) and then went backwards incrementally to disappear off the scene. He was better than Renshaw. So it can go two ways. Renshaw is good enough to succeed as an opener at test level where I reckon Burns is best suited to 5 or 6 in the batting order. He looks potentially a better prospect than Harris or Bancroft. Time will tell. I believe all cricketers need to play all formats. T20 is where you make it, the other two formats pay the bills for some. It is such a pity the best cricketers don't play BBL and the previous admin (James Sutherland) stuffed the league by prolonging it, in the most glaring case of greed seen in Australia in recent times. Now everyone loses thanks to an incompetent CEO.
JC
Roar Rookie
I like renshaw. And I like positive articles. Both rarely sighted these days sadly.
badmanners
Roar Rookie
Yep, the gabba pitch is pretty much the same colour as the outfield!
Adsa
Roar Rookie
A good stint in County cricket will do him the world of good, back to the basics for the season and learn to leave the ball.
Rellum
Roar Guru
They are only comparable in batting style at the crease. Even that is iffy.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
Yeah, that was my thinking too, which is why I don't quite get people equating Renshaw's career with Hayden's. For Haydo's test career, he had his first test as a one-off, but that looks like it was an injury replacement for Taylor. So no issue having a one off in that scenario. Then had 6 tests 96/97 where he got a hundred in the second match, but struggled outside that, with his test average getting down to 21 after 7 tests and he got dropped and had to wait 3 years for his return. Amazingly, it was actually a 2001 tour to India that was where he really secured his place in the team with 119, 97 and 203 in the first innings of those 3 tests, then the rest is history. Really quite a different scenario to Renshaw. Other than being tall opening batsmen from Qld named Matt and playing a small number of tests earlier in the career before getting dropped (which is pretty common across a lot of batsmen, lets face it) there's not a lot else that's the same.
Pope Paul VII
Roar Rookie
I don't think he ever had dud Shield season. A bit unlucky early. He got outrun by Slats in England 93. His first 100 was a classic. Mainly for it's comedy. 125 vs WI. He got dropped about 1/2 times. Survived numerous lbws and caught behind appeals. Got caught off a no ball. This was the match Bevo took 10/113 and scored 85 no.7.
JGK
Roar Guru
Maybe he should move to Tassie.
Paul
Roar Guru
If he was in prime form, I'd agree he should be playing all formats Chris, but as it stands, this chopping and changing can't be good for him IMO. As you suggest, if he can score a County contract and stay for a full season, that might bring his mindset back to what it needs to be.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
I think he's definitely got some technical flaws that quality bowlers have worked out and started exploiting and he hasn't managed to work to eradicate them as yet. So he's gone back to club cricket and piled on big runs, but then when he's come to Shield level he's kept nicking off as bowlers really target that outside edge.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
Did Haydo's have periods in Shield cricket where he couldn't buy a run? My memory might be a bit fuzzy (and I never closely followed Qld Shield cricket) but I thought he was always scoring lots of runs for Qld, just his first time getting picked for Australia he didn't get a big chance and didn't take the few that he did, then ended up in the wilderness (admittedly behind some pretty good openers) before finally getting another chance which he took years later. Did he have a period where he really struggled at Shield level and got dropped from the Qld side too?
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
I came to a similar conclusion regarding bad umpiring calls years ago. Of course I'd be incredibly annoyed getting out to a bad call, but I also realised that if I was in a position to get a bad call, then it meant I'd made some sort of mistake. So even if the decision was a poor one, there's always still things I can learn from the dismissal. Can't see him dropping other formats of the game. This is his career, he will likely want to play all the cricket forms he can. What would probably be good for him would be to see if he can sign another county deal for the off season.
Paul
Roar Guru
a really good suggestion, Tomothy
Timmuh
Roar Guru
Its quite unfortnate timing for him. There is practically no 2ndXI cricket remaining, and he doesn't yet seem to have a County contract tied down. If Qld don't immdiately recall him after Labuschagne goes to South Africa it could be November before he plays long form cricket again above club level. There's no doubt he has ability, or he would not have had the early success. And time is still on his side.
Omnitrader
Roar Rookie
Seems on similar trajectory to Matt Hayden, I wonder if Haydos could mentor him a bit and give him some belief that he belongs at that level.
Diamond Jackie
Roar Rookie
I wish the guy every bit of luck - he seems a very good bloke. I hope the four concussions haven't unsettled him and had an effect. I truly do.
johnb
Guest
As you say he has time - but he has to score runs. Being dropped for the current round of Shield games may not hurt him in that regard - who knows what the Gabba pitch will be like with the sun shining and a lot of humidity around after 2 or 3 weeks of heavy rain. Mind you, a bit of a stretch calling his 81* in that Shield final "vital"!
Paul
Roar Guru
I don't think his confidence was helped at all by some pretty mediocre umpiring decisions he copped in the first part of the Shield season. That said, he probably shouldn't have put himself into a position where the umps were forced to decide. Opening the batting has to be the toughest task in Test cricket and if you look at the circumstances where he started and re-started his career, there was even more pressure on him. The axing after the Hobart debacle, trying to make runs after coming into the team cold in South Africa, etc. I also wonder whether he shouldn't try and just play one format of the game for a season, if for no other reason than to settle his technique down, make runs and build confidence. As David rightly pointed out, he clearly has the ability, all he needs is a chance to get his head together.