Home Cricket Facts Warner’s Test retirement could lead to batting order shake-up

Warner’s Test retirement could lead to batting order shake-up

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Warner’s Test retirement could lead to batting order shake-up


Australia head coach Andrew McDonald has hinted that replacing David Warner may not come down to an identical opening batsman, with a suggestion the order could be reshuffled to accommodate Cameron Green.

Green lost his place for the final Ashes Test at The Oval and is expected to remain out of the XI when the Pakistan series begins next month, but McDonald reinforced that he remains a “generational” talent and is not believed to be out. on the side for a long time.

Provided injuries do not crop up during the Pakistan series, and some question marks remain over the workload on Mitchell Marsh’s body, the first vacancy could come after Warner’s Test retirement, which he has booked for the Test SCG in early January.
It has been widely assumed that his replacement would come from Cameron Bancroft, Marcus Harris or Matt Renshaw, but McDonald referenced previous occasions when Australia’s top order was reshaped with players taking on new roles.

“What does Cam Green’s future look like in the Test team? Is it a matter of waiting for Mitch to finish or could there be another spot that opens up over time?” McDonald told SEN radio. “He has batted at six for most of his Test cricket, but he has been a fantastic number four for WA and averages close to 50 in Shield cricket.

“There’s always the idea that you can potentially change the order to make room to put your best six hitters, or what you see as the best six hitters, in a certain order.”

If there were to be a batsman moved to a new position for the series against the West Indies in January, the potential (and simplest) option would be for Marnus Labuschagne to move up one place, followed by Steven Smith moving back to number 3. The left field route could be a promotion for Travis Head, although he’s so destructive at No. 5 that there will likely be reluctance to do so.

“We’ve seen that before in Australian cricket,” McDonald said. “David Boon moved from three to fly. Justin Langer moved from three to fly. Shane Watson moved from six to fly.

“There has been a chance to reorganize and make that successful. But we will leave that for the first test match in Perth.”

Warner is expected to host his farewell Test series against Pakistan, although his selection is yet to be marked and the team will likely be named early next week.

Test captain Pat Cummins, who is not a selector, praised Warner as a great all-rounder when asked if he deserved a swan song series, but added that the performance was still the highest in the selection criteria. Since 2021, Warner has averaged 28.90 in Tests with one century – the MCG double century last season in his 100th appearance.

“He’s a big player in our game in all formats. So there’s no doubt that’s part of it,” he said. “The first and most important thing is to think about the performance aspect when you choose a team.”

Green, who is currently playing against Queensland in the Sheffield Shield and will line up for the Prime Minister’s XI in Canberra, could be included as a substitute batsman in the season’s first team. Green averages 33.69 with the bat and 36.03 with the ball after 24 Tests. He scored his first century in Ahmedabad earlier in the year but has since made 134 runs at 19.14. He has opted not to play BBL this season after a hectic year in which he has barely been home and to focus on his red ball skills.

After the current round of Shield matches, which are the last before the BBL break, Bancroft, Harris and Renshaw will also get another first-class opportunity when they take on Pakistan for the Prime Minister’s XI.

Bancroft has the most impressive numbers of the season, as he did last summer, but Harris has been the regular substitute batsman in Australia’s teams for the past 18 months and Renshaw is a versatile player, although he struggled on his return to the team. test in the middle. ordered earlier this year, albeit under difficult conditions in India.