Incumbent Test opener Marcus Harris is primed for the Ashes after taking his game to another level and starting this season with a century, according to veteran paceman Trent Copeland.
Harris (137) and Peter Handscomb (115) boosted their cases for Ashes selection on a windswept third day of Victoria’s Sheffield Shield clash with NSW in Sydney.
The venue-record stand of 261 runs at Drummoyne Oval allowed Handscomb to declare at 3-290, with the Blues to resume at 1-33 on Saturday after being set a target of 339.
Will Pucovski looms as the front runner to open alongside David Warner when the Ashes start in Brisbane on December 8, provided he is able to recover from a tenth concussion.
Usman Khawaja already has two hundreds from four Shield knocks this season, plus a stack of experience gleaned from 44 Tests.
But Harris and Handscomb, forced to wait seven weeks to enter the race for spots in Australia’s Test squad because of border closures, have underlined why they should be in the mix.
(Photo: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
Harris spent seven and a half hours at the crease, completing his 19th first-class ton after a productive winter stint with Leicestershire that featured 655 red-ball runs at 54.6.
Former Test seamer Copeland, who toiled for 17 overs during Victoria’s second dig, highlighted Harris’ improvement since first donning the baggy green in 2018.
“Having bowled to him a lot over the years, he used to be really off-side dominant,” Copeland said.
“Probably to his detriment, when he first started playing Test cricket.
“He’s very much scoring 360 degrees now. He looks a complete player. He had a big, big off-season in the UK.
“He looks primed if there’s a position at the top of the order for Australia.”
Chances on 63 and 66, offered in the shadows of lunch, were the only blemishes in an otherwise composed knock from the left-hander.
Harris, who ended a 32-minute stint in the nervous 90s during the final over before tea, noted he learnt long time ago to not worry about Test selection nor the form of rivals like Khawaja.
“If you look too far ahead with that stuff, you can get yourself into a bit of trouble,” Harris said.
“I feel like I’ve got a good body of work under my belt over the last four or five years and then going to England, I had a good season.
“It was hard work (today), I’m not sure I’ve had to bat that long for a hundred since probably my first hundred.”
Harris added that facing the swinging Duke balls in England this year – and playing a lot of cricket – helped him improve.
“You can have a good season at home but then you don’t play for six months. You can lose momentum,” he said.
Harris and Handscomb initially struggled to score freely, adding 126 runs in two wicket-less sessions after Nathan Lyon opened the bowling on Friday morning.
They cashed in late as hot wind buffeted the overworked bowlers, with 89 runs coming after tea.
Marty
Roar Rookie
Puckoski still the front runner? You mean the guy who struggles to make it through a net session without a concussion? I think its about time that someone pulled young Will aside and has a conversation about where he sees himself in 10, 20, 30 years time.
JGK
Roar Guru
One of those drops before lunch was an absolute sitter.