CA Names Warner's Successor As Australia Announce Test Squad For West Indies Series
Matt Renshaw last played during BGT 2023 (Twitter)
Queensland left-hander Matt Renshaw was handed a Test match comeback by Australian selectors on Wednesday (January 10) ahead of the two-match series as the reigning World Test Championship (WTC) embrace life after the now-retired David Warner.
Renshaw, who played last for his 14 Tests for Australia during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy trip to India in February-March last year, has edged over over his historic competitors Cameron Bancroft and Marcus Harris for the top-order slot, the latter of whom even had Warner's approval.
Bancroft stands at the top of the Sheffield Shield runs-chart for the summer. The Western Australia right-hander, who has 10 Test caps under his belt, bolstered his claims of a return with 512 runs off nine innings in the first half of the ongoing first-class season. In contrast, Renshaw's surprise comeback has arrived even as he had struggled, averaging just 31.63 over 11 innings.
The comeback man, however, appears unlikely to immediately make the playing XI and form an opening pair with his Queensland teammate Usman Khawaja as the selectors incline towards handing promising all-rounder Cameron Green a nod for the Adelaide Test.
Green To Play, Smith Likely To Open
Chief selector, George Bailey confirmed Green will be making a return to the playing XI after being sidelined since the final Ashes 2023 Test as a backup to Australia's premier fast-bowling allrounder Mitchell Marsh. In a scenario of both Green and Marsh making the side, the former appears set to bat in the upper middle order.
"Cameron Green will come into the playing XI for the Test in Adelaide in a squad also containing Scott Boland and Matthew Renshaw. We have selected a team we believe contains the best six batters in the country," Bailey told the press on Wednesday.
"Scott Boland and Matt Renshaw will join the squad prior to the first Test after playing for the Melbourne Stars (Jan 15) and Brisbane Heat (Jan 13) in the BBL."
It appears increasingly likely that Smith will be granted his desire to open the innings for Australia as a fresh challenge, which the declining great of Test match cricket hopes will help rejuvenate his game. Smith, who has endured a reasonable fall from his esteemed standards, will be forming an opening duo in Warner's absence with Khawaja.
As Smith moves up, Green looks ripe to bat at the No.4 spot, a place where the tall cricketer enjoys a prolific record in the Shield game for WA and averages 65.10 in 24 first-class matches.
Australia squad for WI Test
Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc
 (1).jpg "Shehzad On King Kohli!")
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