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The Great Australian Bat Off has returned for a brand new season with fresh faces and forgotten favourites bidding to join the cast for the Ashes series opener. In a major subplot, captain Pat Cummins officially out of the first Test and is all but certain to be replaced by understudy Scott Boland, while the final auditions to claim a spot in the squad will be staged across the Sheffield Shield matches that begin on Tuesday as much as the T20 series against India.
The main storyline will be familiar to seasoned fans as the Australia selectors largely repeat last year’s search for an opener to partner Usman Khawaja. But the return to form of Marnus Labuschagne, and injury concerns for Cameron Green and Beau Webster, are plot twists that have thrown up more uncertainty over which six batters will be included for the Perth Test.
Green was pulled from the ODI series against India due to side soreness in what chair of selectors George Bailey said was a “conservative” call, but doubts remain over his ability to bowl early in the Ashes. The 26-year-old has bowled four overs in a competitive fixture this year – taking 1-13 for New South Wales in a Sheffield Shield match earlier this month – and is not expected to be thrown the ball when he returns to face Queensland on Tuesday. Green has averaged 23.5 while batting at No 3 in Australia’s past four Tests but a strong finish to the West Indies series could be enough for him to continue in the role especially if he is not ready to play as a genuine all-rounder.
Webster has also had an interrupted build up to the summer after rolling his ankle but has credits in the bank from a promising start to his Test career with four half-centuries. Concerns over Green’s bowling could work in Webster’s favour with his medium pace – or off-spin – a valuable addition to an attack already missing its leader. The 31-year-old will play for Tasmania against Victoria this week and just needs to get through the four-day game unscathed to be included in the Test squad, though his spot in the XI is coming under threat from Labuschagne’s likely return.
With Steve Smith to captain the side at No 4, Travis Head a lock in the middle-order, and Khawaja bringing continuity as an opener even amid signs of decline, selectors have enough pieces to complete their batting puzzle. But how they fit them all together – and whether some pieces might be forced into unfamiliar positions – could be decided this week.
With Australia’s initial Ashes squad expected to be named at the end of this Sheffield Shield round, we look at the batters pushing for a spot in the XI to take on England in Perth.
Sam Konstas
Test record: 5 matches, 163 runs, 0 centuries, average 16.30
First-class record: 24 matches, 1,321 runs, 3 centuries, average 31.45
Australia have tried and tested four batters – Nathan McSweeney, Konstas, Head and Labuschagne – to open alongside Khawaja over the past year, with each of them failing to grasp the opportunity to make the spot their own. Konstas has come the closest with a famously dazzling debut against India in the Boxing Day Test before falling out of favour for the Sri Lanka tour and the winner-takes-all World Test Championship final.
The 20-year-old is still seen as one for the long-term – and is again the incumbent after being recalled for three Tests in the Caribbean – though his meagre returns against West Indies and lack of runs to start the Australian summer have pushed him back down the pecking order. In Konstas’s favour is that he is making his way as a specialist opener and has already experienced the pressure cooker of two Tests against India, though he is still to prove he has the temperament and batting tempo to handle the heat of an Ashes series.
Marnus Labuschagne
Test record: 58 matches, 4,435 runs, 11 centuries, average 46.19
First-class record: 168 matches, 12,260 runs, 34 centuries, average 45.07
The former No 1-ranked Test batter’s spectacular start to the summer with four centuries in five matches has already earned him a recall to the ODI squad and presents a strong case for his quick return to the Test team. The neatest solution for Australia would be to reward Labuschagne for his re-emergence with another shot at opening while keeping Green, Smith, Head and Webster batting at three to six.
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The 31-year-old opened in his most recent Test – the WTC final – though after having little impact with the bat in the defeat to South Africa, and only one century since a purple patch in 2022, he was dropped for the recent West Indies tour. His two innings at Lord’s in June were the only times that Labuschagne has opened in a Test, while he was a mainstay at No 3 for more than five years and continues to bat there for Queensland. He would surely prefer to step back into the Test team at the more familiar first drop, but with uncertainty over whether Green can be trusted as an all-rounder who bats as low as No 6, Labuschagne might have to return through the back door alongside Khawaja.
Jake Weatherald
Test record: Yet to debut
First-class record: 75 matches, 5,257 runs, 13 centuries, average 38.09
The experienced left-hander has emerged as the opener next in line for a debut during the Ashes as he puts together a solid body of work at first-class level. The top-scorer in the Sheffield Shield last year, with 906 runs at an average of 50.33, has picked up where he left off with three half-centuries in four innings this season. Weatherald’s most impressive knock in the recent stretch came with 94 runs from 99 balls to set up Tasmania for a three-run victory in a low-scoring tussle with Western Australia.
The 30-year-old likes to dictate terms to the bowlers with positive play and would complement Khawaja’s more steady style well, while Australia have shown in the past that they are comfortable with two left-handers opening the innings. Runs against Victoria and an attack led by Boland this week would put Weatherald right in the frame for a first international cap especially if there is a preference for a specialist opener.
Matt Renshaw
Test record: 14 matches, 645 runs, 1 century, average 29.31
First-class record: 127 matches, 7,809 runs, 24 centuries, average 37.72
The versatile batter has hovered around the fringes of the Test team since losing his regular place after 11 matches in 2018, and has just been handed a first opportunity with the ODI side against India. Three useful innings, including a half-century in the third white-ball international in Sydney, showed that Renshaw is increasingly comfortable at the elite level.
The 29-year-old started this season in fine touch with 248 runs in three one-day matches for Australia A and scored a century while opening for Queensland in his only Sheffield Shield innings so far. Renshaw initially broke into the Test side as a 20-year-old opener back in 2016, and is again batting at the top of the order for his state side, but has built up useful experience lower down that could appeal to the selectors.
Mitch Marsh
Test record: 46 matches, 2,083 runs, 3 centuries, average 28.53
First-class record: 121 matches, 6,402 runs, 13 centuries, average 33.34
The Australia white-ball skipper has talked down his chances of being selected for the Ashes opener and is a smokey – at best – to make a shock return. But Marsh has proven in the past that he is more comfortable than most against express pace and on a bouncy deck which could suit a horses-for-courses approach to play at his home venue in Perth.
Marsh has found runs while opening alongside Head in the recent ODIs against India, and put together big scores in earlier white-ball internationals against New Zealand and South Africa. The 34-year-old will continue to lead Australia in five T20s against India starting on Wednesday, rather than press his claims in the Sheffield Shield, but the door has not closed on his Test career with coach Andrew McDonald naming Marsh as one player who could be selected based on white-ball form.
