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Speaking to reporters in Canberra on Monday afternoon, Australian coach Andrew McDonald confirmed the national selectors \u201chaven\u2019t made a decision\u201d on who opens the batting this summer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a couple of people that you guys would be well aware of who have done a good job in the first few Shield rounds,\u201d McDonald said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got another Shield round to go and then we\u2019ll get busy selecting that, so the names that have been mentioned out there are names that we\u2019re talking about.\u201d<\/p>\n
VICTORIA VS TASMANIA<\/p>\n
Junction Oval, 10.30am AEDT<\/p>\n
Tigers opener Jake Weatherald has enjoyed an impressive start to his Sheffield Shield campaign with three fifties across two rounds, including a player-of-the-match performance against Western Australia in Hobart.<\/p>\n
However, the left-hander could bash the door down for a baggy green if he reaches triple figures against Victoria this week.<\/p>\n
Weatherald\u2019s Test credentials are well-documented \u2013 he was the leading run-scorer of last summer\u2019s Sheffield Shield, also compiling big scores for Australia A over the winter. Should Australia pick a specialist opener to accompany Khawaja at the top of the order this summer, he\u2019s one of the leading candidates alongside Matthew Renshaw.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, Tasmanian teammate Beau Webster will return to the starting XI having missed the first two rounds of Sheffield Shield action with an ankle injury. The all-rounder potentially could have played the Tigers\u2019 previous red-ball match in Hobart, but he skipped the contest as a precautionary measure.<\/p>\n
Despite enjoying a superb start to his Test career, headlined by a heroic performance during January\u2019s New Year\u2019s clash against India, Webster is at risk of being squeezed out of the Ashes XI if Cameron Green is available as an all-rounder and Australia wants two specialist openers.<\/p>\n
Beau Webster of the Tigers. Photo by Darrian Traynor\/Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the raw pace of speedster Riley Meredith makes him an outside chance of earning a Test call-up for the Ashes opener in Perth, a city renowned for its added bounce.<\/p>\n
On the Victorian team, seamer Fergus O\u2019Neill sent a timely reminder to national selectors by taking a five-wicket haul during last week\u2019s victory over New South Wales in Melbourne.<\/p>\n
The 24-year-old has been one of the most prolific bowlers in the Sheffield Shield over the last couple of summers, but his skill-set is perhaps more suited for the pink-ball Test at the Gabba rather than Perth Stadium.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Neill, who rarely exceeds 135km\/h, has been touted as a Scott Boland replica, making him the ideal like-for-like replacement should the Victorian veteran suffer an injury setback or require workload management.<\/p>\n
QUEENSLAND VS NEW SOUTH WALES<\/p>\n
Gabba, 11am AEDT<\/p>\n
After hitting his maiden ODI half-century during Saturday\u2019s 50-over clash against India at the SCG, Matthew Renshaw made a desperate dash to Brisbane for Queensland\u2019s upcoming Sheffield Shield match against New South Wales.<\/p>\n
The left-hander, who made the most recent of his 14 Test appearances in 2023, started his domestic summer with a century during Queensland\u2019s drawn match against Tasmania, a knock that was overshadowed by Bulls teammate Marnus Labuschagne.<\/p>\n
Courtesy of his four hundreds in five matches for Queensland, the 31-year-old looks almost certain to earn a Test recall this summer, having been dropped for the recent Frank Worrell Trophy against the West Indies in the Caribbean.<\/p>\n
It seems the only concern for Labuschagne is where he bats in the starting XI \u2013 the right-hander scored each of his 11 Test hundreds batting at No. 3, but reinventing him as an opener would create room for two all-rounders in the middle order.<\/p>\n
However, should Labuschagne return to his preferred position at No. 3, there\u2019s a possibility of Australia\u2019s Test top there being Queenslanders if Renshaw faces the new ball alongside Khawaja.<\/p>\n
Matt Renshaw of the Bulls. Photo by Albert Perez\/Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Bulls teammate Michael Neser, another Ashes hopeful, will miss this week\u2019s Sheffield Shield clash due to workload management, but he is expected to return for Queensland\u2019s following match against Western Australia.<\/p>\n
Much like O\u2019Neill, Neser would be considered for a Test recall for the day-night contest against England at the Gabba, while he has been in impeccable red-ball form, taking 11 wickets at 21.27 this summer.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, New South Wales opener Sam Konstas has seemingly fallen out of contention for the Ashes courtesy of his disappointing Test tour of the West Indies and sluggish start to his Sheffield Shield campaign.<\/p>\n
The right-hander, Australia\u2019s incumbent Test opener, showed promising signs during his dazzling half-century against Victoria in Melbourne, but he\u2019ll need to produce something special against Queensland this week to force his way back into Ashes contention.<\/p>\n
Since his unforgettable debut against India at the MCG, Konstas has averaged 11.87 in the Test arena with no fifties across four matches. He started his summer with hundreds during last month\u2019s NSW intra-squad match in Sydney and the Australia A tour of India, but those knocks won\u2019t carry much weight when it comes to Ashes selection.<\/p>\n
However, multiple pundits have implored national selectors to stick with Konstas, notably former Test opener David Warner.<\/p>\n
Superstar Steve Smith will play the Sheffield Shield match having returned from New York, with Test spinner Nathan Lyon also taking part.<\/p>\n
WESTERN AUSTRALIA VS SOUTH AUSTRALIA<\/p>\n
WACA, 1.30pm AEDT<\/p>\n
Having missed the first two rounds of Sheffield Shield action due to a minor hamstring strain, South Australian seamer Brendan Doggett will make his long-awaited return in Perth this week.<\/p>\n
The 31-year-old is seemingly the next in line for an Ashes call-up having been named as Australia\u2019s travelling reserve for June\u2019s World Test Championship final against South Africa at Lord\u2019s. He was also named in the initial Test squad for the recent West Indies tour, but he was replaced by Blues seamer Sean Abbott at the eleventh hour due to a hip complaint.<\/p>\n
Having produced some spectacular performances for South Australia and Australia A last summer, he could be in line for a Test debut against England if he can prove his fitness and form at the WACA.<\/p>\n
In the West Australian team, all eyes will be on Cameron Green after the all-rounder was ruled out of last week\u2019s ODI series against India with \u201clow-grade side soreness\u201d.<\/p>\n
The 26-year-old, the Test side\u2019s incumbent No. 3, has been gradually building up his bowling workloads since undergoing back surgery last summer. In a promising development, he produced four overs during Western Australia\u2019s previous Sheffield Shield match against New South Wales, even taking the wicket of former state teammate Charlie Stobo, but it remains to be seen how much bowling he\u2019ll be permitted against South Australia this week.<\/p>\n
Cameron Green of Western Australia. Photo by James Worsfold\/Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images<\/p>\n
If Green is only available as a specialist batter for the Ashes opener, it could drastically alter the make-up of Australia\u2019s starting XI.<\/p>\n
And despite signs of improvement throughout the winter, averaging 23.50 batting at No. 3 across four matches against South Africa and the West Indies, Green will be desperate for runs having managed scores of 19 and 24 against the Blues earlier this month.<\/p>\n
While his talent is undeniable, it\u2019s widely agreed that Green is better suited down in the middle order. His chances of an Ashes call-up skyrocket if he\u2019s available as an all-rounder with no bowling restrictions, otherwise he risks slipping out of the starting XI.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll get an update today of how he\u2019s pulled up from yesterday\u2019s bowl \u2026 and then that\u2019ll be a decision leading into Shield game three and what that looks like if it\u2019s not Shield game three that he bowls in,\u201d McDonald said of Green. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe still will be bowling in some capacity in and around that game, and then it\u2019ll be really excited about what Shield four looks like. (There are) a couple of good Shield rounds to get excited about with some guys returning. <\/p>\n
\u201cBeau Webster also returns, (so does) Brendan Doggett, so you start to build the picture when you see those guys returning. And hopefully there\u2019s some runs and some overs under their belts to get excited about.\u201d<\/p>\n
AUSTRALIAN T20 SQUAD<\/p>\n
New South Wales seamer Sean Abbott, who carried drinks during the recent Frank Worrell Trophy campaign in the Caribbean, will be withdrawn from Australia\u2019s T20 squad after the third game against India so he can play the fourth round of the Sheffield Shield, perhaps a hint he will be in Ashes contention.<\/p>\n
Although he is renowned as a white-ball specialist, the 33-year-old has performed exceptionally for the Blues whenever he\u2019s been available for Sheffield Shield matches. He\u2019s been a regular member of Australian Test squads since earning his maiden call-up during the 2020\/21 summer.<\/p>\n
Swing maestro Xavier Bartlett also features in Australia\u2019s T20 squad, and he remains a potential Ashes candidate despite a lack of Sheffield Shield cricket under his belt. He could serve as a like-for-like replacement for Hazlewood if required.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, having made his Test debut earlier this year, wicketkeeper Josh Inglis is an outside chance of featuring in the Ashes squad as a reserve batter despite his recent injury concerns.<\/p>\n
The first T20 between Australia and India gets underway at Canberra\u2019s Manuka Oval at 7.15pm AEDT.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The next four days of Sheffield Shield action loom as the final opportunity for Australia\u2019s Test hopefuls to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":244813,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564],"tags":[64,63,740,85],"class_list":["post-244812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cricket","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cricket","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=244812"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244812\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/244813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=244812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=244812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}