Register free now ><\/a><\/p>\nTasmania\u2019s Jake Weatherald is the incumbent having opened alongside Head during this summer\u2019s Ashes, but the left-hander\u2019s spot is in some doubt after he managed just one half-century across the five-match campaign against England, averaging 22.33.<\/p>\n
Since returning to the Sheffield Shield, the 31-year-old has accumulated 261 runs at 43.50 for the Tigers, including fifties against New South Wales and Queensland, while on Sunday he raced towards 62 at Bellerive Oval before feathering a cut stroke through to the wicketkeeper.<\/p>\n
Following an impressive summer across all three formats, Queensland\u2019s Matthew Renshaw looms as the leading candidate to replace Weatherald in the Test side should national selectors decide a change was needed at the top of the order. The left-hander made his ODI debut in October last year before impressing during the recent T20 World Cup campaign in the subcontinent, while he\u2019s the only player with three centuries during this season\u2019s Sheffield Shield.<\/p>\n
However, Renshaw has failed to heap pressure on Weatherald since returning from Sri Lanka, posting scores of 31, 4 and 10 for the Bulls. In Hobart on Saturday, the 29-year-old lazily spooned a full delivery from Tasmanian all-rounder Beau Webster towards point as Queensland was rolled for 178.<\/p>\n
With the Bulls failing to qualify for next week\u2019s Sheffield Shield final, Renshaw will get one final opportunity to press his case for a Test recall in the second innings.<\/p>\n
Patterson guides NSW to ODI Cup win | 01:30<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, New South Wales young gun Sam Konstas is at serious risk of losing his national contract after he was dropped from the Test side following last year\u2019s Frank Worrell Trophy against the West Indies in the Caribbean.<\/p>\n
The 20-year-old has struggled to press his case for a recall, failing to reach fifty in his 16 most recent knocks across formats. He cracked a Sheffield Shield century against Queensland in December, but it was a lone highlight in an otherwise underwhelming campaign with the bat, where he has averaged 33.00. <\/p>\n
During the ongoing match against Western Australia in Sydney, the right-hander wafted at a wide delivery from seamer Albert Esterhuysen in the first innings and picked out point, gone for 38, before edging towards the slips cordon for 31 on day three.<\/p>\n
Wicketkeeper Sam Harper, meanwhile, was dismissed for 5 in Victoria\u2019s Sheffield Shield clash against South Australia in Melbourne, while rising star Campbell Kellaway notched a stylish 66. The duo have been floated as contenders for the Test opener role courtesy of Victoria\u2019s red-ball success, but neither have bashed the door down for national selection.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Marnus Labuschagne\u2019s worrying slump continued during Queensland\u2019s Sheffield Shield clash in Hobart, with the Bulls captain toppled by Tigers seamer Lawrence Neil-Smith for 2. The Australian Test No. 3, who hasn\u2019t managed a Test century in nearly three years, has averaged 22.00 at first-class since the end of October, putting him at risk of once again being dropped from the national side.<\/p>\n
The likes of Blues stand-in captain Kurtis Patterson and Victorian veteran Peter Handscomb are breathing down Labuschagne\u2019s neck; the former was the leading run-scorer from this summer\u2019s One-Day Cup campaign, while the latter is the Sheffield Shield\u2019s leading run-scorer with 688 at 36.21. However, neither of the experienced duo converted their starts in substantials scores this weekend, dismissed for 26 and 49 respectively.<\/p>\n
Patterson talks Test hopes & One Day Cup | 10:03<\/p>\n
Courtesy of Queensland\u2019s first-innings collapse in Hobart, reigning champions South Australia have qualified for the Sheffield Shield final against Victorian in Melbourne, with the state chasing back-to-back titles for the first time in its history.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a nerve-wracking week,\u201d South Australian coach Ryan Harris told reporters on Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI haven\u2019t had a lot of sleep over the last week thinking about it. The last couple of nights has been pretty hectic.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s something that when I took on the role, I didn\u2019t want to win it last year and have another big break in having a crack at another one. So it means a lot to me and my staff and the organisation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harris also revealed that fast bowler Brendan Doggett, who recently sustained a hamstring tear, was a chance of recovering before the Sheffield Shield final, which commences on March 26.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m probably going to get a report on that either tonight or tomorrow morning,\u201d Harris said of Doggett.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think he\u2019s got a catch up tomorrow with (strength and conditioning staff) back home. He\u2019s been bowling. I know that. Look, it\u2019d be nice to have him available.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s come back quite quick compared to what I was originally told. If we play him it\u2019s going to be a risk. But no doubt if he thinks he can do it we\u2019ll play him, and everything points in the right direction. But if it pings again, it didn\u2019t require surgery last time, if it goes and there\u2019s (Tests) in August that potentially is pretty big for him. So we\u2019ll weigh all that up over the next week. It\u2019s not very long. But we\u2019ll see how that goes.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The identity of Travis Head\u2019s Test opening partner remains up in the air after the candidates once again…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":543162,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564],"tags":[64,63,740,85],"class_list":["post-543161","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\/543161","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=543161"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543161\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/543162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=543161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=543161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=543161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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