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Three days of wild weather could cost Matthew Renshaw a golden chance to force his way into the Australian Test side ahead of the blockbuster summer.
The Queenslander had thrust his name into the mix for the first Ashes, launching his summer with 128 in the Sheffield Shield and averaging 53.50 in his maiden one-day international campaign against India.
The 29-year-old’s form had state teammate and current Australian opener Usman Khawaja daring to dream of an all-Queensland top three of himself, Renshaw and a resurgent Marnus Labuschagne to face England.
Matthew Renshaw celebrates his maiden international one-day half century against India with Alex Carey.Credit: Getty Images
“I’m a little bit biased because he’s my opening partner, a friend of mine, and he’s been there and done it. He’s looked the part, which he always does when he goes to the next level,” Khawaja said of Renshaw.
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“You feel like he’s one guy who actually belongs at the next level.”
The Brisbane weather, however, had other ideas for Renshaw’s audition.
Rain forced the opening day of the Bulls’ Shield clash with New South Wales to be abandoned, with more showers forecast throughout the week. It follows searing heat on Monday – with some parts of the city reaching 40 degrees – and a Sunday storm which forced the Tonga-Samoa rugby league clash to be delayed for 95 minutes.
Renshaw’s century for the Bulls remains his only long-format innings for the summer, but Khawaja felt he had already proven he was better placed to rejoin the fold for the first time since February 2023, when he played the last of his 14 Tests.
“He’s been in and out of the Australian team, which I think is a really good thing. It allows you to learn from experiences, so when you get the opportunity again it’s not something new that you haven’t seen before,” Khawaja said.
“You’ve actually put things in place that allow you to perform. Whether it’s now or later, whenever Rennie gets his chance … I know he’ll be ready for it.”
How Renshaw re-entered the debate
Khawaja admits that before his heroic comeback to the Test arena, he was “worrying about everyone else”.
It is a lesson Renshaw has taken to heart, deleting every cricketing presence possible from his phone and social media, embracing life away from the game and refusing to assess how other international contenders fared.
“If they scored a hundred, and you scored a duck, you’d go ‘dammit, I’m further back’,” Renshaw said.
“You see someone else score runs, and you go ‘I need to score runs because that will validate myself’.
“The mentality when you’re young is that’s how you view yourself as a person. Now I go home, and I’ve got to change nappies, put kids to bed and try calm screaming babies down.
“I want to be there [in the Ashes], it would be remiss of me not to say that, but I try and stay away from it as much as possible.”
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Renshaw credits his axing from the Queensland side just before the COVID-19 pandemic for his turnaround, having previously gone into the summer desperate to put himself in the Test frame.
That coincided with his improved one-day form, where he has scored 1042 runs at an average of 54.84 since the 2021-22 competition heading into this season, which he believes can translate into the long format. The way he played, he said, took precedence over the runs scored.
“It’s almost trying to take my one-day mentality into red ball – nice and positive and move my feet well, rather than trying to be a sitting duck opening the batting,” Renshaw said.
Labuschagne’s key change
Khawaja has backed Labuschagne to feature in the Australian line-up come the Perth Test beginning on November 21, but insists No.3 is where he is best suited.
Labuschagne – who has scored four centuries across both formats since being axed after the World Test Championship final – has been floated as an opening option, but that would hinge on whether selectors were eager to squeeze both Beau Webster and Cameron Green into the side.
Marnus Labuschagne has started the summer as Australia’s most in-form batsman.Credit: Getty Images
Tasmania’s Jake Weatherald – who has backed up his competition-high 906 runs last summer with three half-centuries – fell for a duck on Tuesday against Victoria.
But Khawaja had seen a dramatic change in Labuschagne that had him primed for a return.
“I don’t think it’s technique, it’s mental – he’s actually hitting less balls than he ever has. He’s not hitting balls before the game in the morning – he’s normally there for an hour,” Khawaja said.
“It’s just giving his brain a bit more of a rest. He’s growing, and he’s understanding he doesn’t have to hit four million balls to be ready.
“I think our best side has Marnus in it every time.”
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