“For me, if they’re challenging me up around my shoulders and head, it means they’re not challenging my forward defence,” Kellaway said.
“So I guess it’s a good thing in that sense. I’m trying to learn on the go and learn from my experience facing Starcy’s bowling short at me the other week, and other times that I’ve faced that challenge.
Kellaway inspects the damage from a Mitchell Starc bumper at the SCG on November 10.Credit: Getty Images
“I played a couple more shots today, which was nice to get a couple out of the middle. I’ll learn from it again.”
As for his showdown with Starc, Kellaway took plenty from his efforts, along with a few bruises from one of the best left-armers in cricket history.
“I’d be lying if I said the beans weren’t going there at some point,” he grinned.
“I think you’re not human if they aren’t, but no, I love the challenge. It was a bit of a tricky wicket, so it made it a little bit up and down. He pinned me on the finger a few times, and I hope when I face a challenge like that in the future, I’ll be better for it.”
Kellaway opened alongside opening wunderkind Sam Konstas (who scored 36 against the England Lions) a year on from when he flayed India to all parts of Manuka for the same PM’s XI, with his 107 shooting him into a storied Boxing Day Test debut just weeks later.
Australia’s line-up is ageing, and a successor for Khawaja is needed at the top of the order sooner rather than later, though Kellaway is likely still another 12 productive months away from Test contention.
But his name is increasingly mentioned in conversations alongside the likes of Jake Weatherald, Matt Renshaw, Konstas and after his Perth pyrotechnics, Travis Head, as a potential opening option.
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Having Rogers, who played 25 Tests as a late-blooming opener, describe him as a “ready-made Test player” doesn’t hurt either.
“Buck [Rogers] is awesome. He’s been a great mentor for me,” Kellaway said of his state coach.
“Obviously, he’s done it all before. He’s gone on the journey that I guess I’m trying to go on. I’m trying to learn off him as much as I can. The selectors have given me an opportunity to play my first PM’s XI game, and I’m just trying to put my best foot forward.”
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