The jury remains out on Jake Weatherald\u2019s Test credentials after a promising 72 in Brisbane and not much else this series, particularly given England have exposed his habit of falling over his front leg.<\/p>\n
Weatherald\u2019s rise to the baggy green did come courtesy of bulk Sheffield Shield runs from Hobart, where Bellerive Oval is the toughest batting strip in the country. But for an Australian opener, tours of England and India are the supreme test,<\/a> and will prove so again in the next 18 months.<\/p>\n Next February\u2019s five-Test Border-Gavaskar trophy, followed by the 2027 Ashes in England, present the chance to end series-winning droughts in both countries that stretch beyond 20 years.<\/p>\n Since the 2015 Ashes, Australia\u2019s openers have averaged 30.43 in England \u2013 a significant drop from the 37.54 mark set since 1960 (a date chosen to avoid the influence of uncovered pitches).<\/p>\n Khawaja and Chris Rogers are the only Australian openers to hit centuries on English soil, with Warner\u2019s failure to post three figures a blight on his overall record.<\/p>\n The downturn in India is similar \u2013 from an overall opening return of 39.03 to 31.67 since 2015, though Head\u2019s prowess there in 2023 sowed the seeds of his recent shift up the order.<\/p>\n Head and English counterpart Ben Duckett typically bat at a million miles an hour, with their contrasting Ashes series a study in the extremes of such an approach.<\/p>\n Khawaja acknowledged on Friday that \u201csometimes openers come out of nowhere\u201d with a nod to Head and not to mention his own shift.<\/p>\n Queensland teammate Matt Renshaw is building a weight of Sheffield Shield and Big Bash runs<\/a> that presents a different proposition to his first Test iteration, not dissimilar to Khawaja\u2019s last and most successful Test return.<\/p>\n