{"id":862918,"date":"2026-08-21T07:00:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T07:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/862918\/"},"modified":"2026-08-21T07:00:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T07:00:16","slug":"australia-vs-bangladesh-test-match-in-mackay-australia-names-team-for-second-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/862918\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia vs Bangladesh Test match in Mackay: Australia names team for second Test"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Daniel<\/p>\n

August 21, 2026 \u2014 3:04pm<\/p>\n

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Mackay: Australia have resisted the temptation to drop Nathan Lyon for Scott Boland as they seek to redress a surprise loss to Bangladesh in the first Test in Darwin.<\/p>\n

After a final look at the pitch on Friday, captain Pat Cummins confirmed that Matt Renshaw opening in place of Jake Weatherald would be the team\u2019s only change, following a most unexpected and widely criticised reverse in the opening game.<\/p>\n

\"AustralianAustralian captain Pat Cummins and coach Andrew McDonald take a close look at the pitch in Mackay and consider their selection options ahead of the Test against Bangladesh.Getty Images<\/p>\n

Cummins explained that Weatherald had not done enough over six Tests to keep his place, and virtually confirmed he would also be missing from the squad for South Africa to play three Tests in October.<\/p>\n

\u201cA really tough one for Wethers, I thought he was awesome around the group, really like the way he goes about it, but over the course of six Test matches [he] just didn\u2019t quite score the runs that he or we would\u2019ve liked,\u201d Cummins said.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike anyone, go back, knock the door back down. I suspect he\u2019ll be back for a full Shield season, so go and show you\u2019re better than anyone else in that competition.\u201d<\/p>\n

After missing six years with back injuries, Cummins returned to Test cricket alongside a young Renshaw in India and Bangladesh in 2017, and said the left-hander had developed a more rounded and consistent game over the decade since.<\/p>\n

\"NathanNathan Lyon was out-bowled by the Bangladesh tweakers in Darwin, but held his spot in the Australian team for the second Test.Robert Cianflone\/Getty Images.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor Renners, he\u2019s been really impressive, some great off-season tours to Pakistan and Bangladesh with white ball, so he looks in good nick,\u201d Cummins said. \u201cHad a really good Shield [campaign] last season.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the chat about Renners in the past is he could look different from day to day. Now when you get to the back half of your career as a batter you want to know what you look like at your best, and I think he does that. The hope with Renners is keep bringing your best version every day, be nice and sharp and put pressure on the bowlers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lyon\u2019s place in the team feels increasingly precarious in Australia, but ultimately Cummins, coach Andrew McDonald and selection chair George Bailey decided that the pitch at Great Barrier Reef Arena would offer enough for spin over five days.<\/p>\n

Editor’s pick\"Spin<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you think there\u2019s a good chance that first bowling innings you\u2019re going to take 10 with, mainly the quicks, relatively quickly and perhaps the fourth innings isn\u2019t going to break up, that\u2019s a lot of the decision,\u201d Cummins said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe extra layer to that is having someone like Scotty Boland on the bench who is very classy, that\u2019s why the conversation always comes up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marnus Labuschagne, meanwhile, has been counselled to desist from constant technical tinkering and to trust the methods that made him the best number three batsman in the world between 2019 and 2023.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been number one batter in the world or close to, he\u2019s scored thousands of Test runs,\u201d Cummins said. \u201cWe know it\u2019s in him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last couple of months, I know it\u2019s only training and match simulation, but I thought he\u2019s been as sharp as in a long time, and that\u2019s me bowling at him and getting that feedback.<\/p>\n

\"MattMatt Renshaw batting in the nets on Friday ahead of the Test match.Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a bowler, it feels like the margins are really small when someone like Marnus or Steve [Smith] is at their best form, and I\u2019ve felt that the last couple of months. Last week was a bit of a blip, but our message to Marn\u2019 is you don\u2019t have to reinvent the wheel, trust the work he\u2019s put in over the last six months.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked about Bangladesh\u2019s methodical style of play in Darwin, Cummins agreed that his team needed to be capable of playing a longer game against opponents who refused to play in profligate fast-forward as England did last summer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought they did that better than us last week, really disciplined, played a long game,\u201d Cummins said. \u201cI actually felt like it was more similar to a lot of the Test matches I played at the start of my career in Australia.<\/p>\n

Editor’s pick\"Matt<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cBut the way through that isn\u2019t necessarily to strike at 100 [strike rate], it might be that attritional cricket, wear them down and get the fast bowlers to keep coming back. It\u2019s not an easy country to keep bowling 20 overs a day, so really get into the grind and play what\u2019s in front of you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bangladesh will consider a recall for the speedy left-armer Shoriful Islam, after he missed the Darwin Test in the final stages of his recovery from a hamstring strain.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only thing I had to say to them, and I will repeat it anywhere, is that Australia is going to come harder. So we have to either keep that level of performance or get a little bit better,\u201d Bangladesh coach Phil Simmons said this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know that they are going to change their game, they\u2019re going to come harder at us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Australia\u2019s XI for the second Test against Bangladesh: Travis Head, Matt Renshaw, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Cameron Green, Alex Carey, Beau Webster, Pat Cummins (capt), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.<\/p>\n

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\"DanielDaniel Brettig<\/a> is The Age’s chief cricket writer and the author of several books on cricket.Connect via X<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"August 21, 2026 \u2014 3:04pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":862919,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564],"tags":[64,63,740,85],"class_list":["post-862918","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\/862918","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=862918"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/862918\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/862919"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=862918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=862918"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=862918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}