Options slim for new Australia Test cricket batters

Australia's nine wicket defeat at the hands of Bangladesh have thrown up yet more questions about the state of Australian batting.

Twin failures by opener Jake Weatherald and number three Marnus Labuschagne have only increased the pressure on both batters.

Moreover, the repeated failures of the battling line-up, with the exception of Steve Smith and Cam Green in Darwin, have continued a pattern which was partially masked by last season's Ashes success.

Labuschagne hasn't scored a century since July 2023 — 22 Tests ago — during which time he's averaged just 25.23.

Jake Weatherald is averaging 20.36 in his six Tests since the beginning of the Ashes last summer, with just one score above 50.

The question is, does Australia make changes now ahead of the second Test starting in Mackay on Saturday?

Skipper, Pat Cummins, openly mused on the subject in his post-Test press conference on Sunday.

"I think that's the question over the next couple days," Cummins said.

"We'll sit down and have a think; the selectors will have a think.

"Is there something there that's going to take us forward, or is it something starting to become a trend that we think needs to be changed?

"So, it's trying to work out, do you need to intervene now, or do you let it play out and think [the current group] is the way forward?"

Australia's head coach, Andrew McDonald, said the disastrous display in Darwin was clearly not good enough.

"Call it a trend, call it what you will, we believe our players are better than what they're putting out there at the moment," he said.

"And that falls on us as coaches as well; our job is to get the best out of playing group.

"I think if you go back to the original squad [of 13] that was picked, it was quite skinny.

"I think Bailes, George [head selector, George Bailey] left it very open as to you know, we could add depending on what we saw going through."

The obvious problem is that we are in the middle of winter season and most batsmen last played first-class cricket around five months ago.

It means the selectors don't have recent form to go off and so any decision about bringing in a player from outside the squad of 13 is going to rely on hunch as much as hard facts.

If it's the current group, the only other batter available in the squad is Josh Inglis, who scored 100 on debut against Sri Lanka in January 2025, but was dropped after his fifth Test during last summer's Ashes series.

Inglis last represented Australia in the white ball format playing One-Day Internationals and T20 matches on the tour to Bangladesh in June.

The 31-year-old wicketkeeper-batter played five matches in this year's IPL for the Lucknow Super Giants, scoring 266 runs at an average of 53.2 and a strike rate of 186.

Inglis opens for Australia in the short forms of the game but hasn't batted higher than four in Test cricket and bats in the middle order for Western Australia in the Sheffield Shield.

Is he the long sought-after answer to open for Australia? His record and usual batting position suggests not.

If not Inglis, then the selectors will have to look outside the current squad where pundits are putting forth names including Matthew Renshaw, Sam Harper, Nathan McSweeney, Cooper Connolly, Campbell Kellaway, Sam Konstas and Kurtis Patterson.

Queenslander Renshaw was part of the wider squad that trained in Brisbane before the Sri Lanka series and is a possibility to replace Weatherald as opener.

He scored 499 runs in six matches at 49.9 in last year's Sheffield Shield, with three centuries and a 50.

While those numbers don't scream "pick me", they are actually a stand out in what was a disappointing summer for Australia's first-class batters: his average was second only to Jack Edwards's 51.75 for batters who scored more than 300 runs.

Former Test opener and Queenslander, Matthew Hayden is a fan of the 31-year-old.

"I want to see Matt Renshaw and I've been saying this for at least 12 months. I think he is match fit," he told Channel 7.

"I think the selectors knew what he was, now I want to see what he actually is."

Renshaw was also a member of the Australian side that played limited overs matches against Bangladesh in June.

He played the last of his 14 Tests against India in Delhi more than three years ago when he came in as a concussion sub for David Warmer and scored just 2.

Victoria's keeper/batter Sam Harper scored the second most Shield runs last year behind his teammate and former Test player, Peter Handscomb.

Harper scored 677 runs at an average 35.63 in his 11 matches which included Victoria's loss to South Australia in the Sheffield Shield final played at the end of March.

Of late, 29-year-old Harper has been part of the Galle Gallants title winning side in Sri Lanka's T20 competition, the Lanka Premier League.

He was the second highest scoring batter in the competition with 425 runs at an average of 38.63 and a strike rate of 163.46.

The question around Harper, who has proven himself a successful T20 batter over the years, is whether he could translate last year's Shield runs to the Test arena, and possibly even step up a level?

One player who has been playing regular first-class cricket is the former Test opener, Nathan McSweeney.

McSweeney was drafted into the Test side two years ago to replace the retired David Warner partnering Usman Khawaja at the top of the order.

He lasted just three Tests, where he made 72 runs at an average of 14.4.

More recently he's been playing for Northamptonshire in England's One-Day Cup and County Championship Division Two.

His record in eight first-class matches for Northants has been solid, scoring 589 runs — placing him fifth on the run-scoring charts — at an average of 49.08.

Batting at number three, he captained South Australia to last season's Sheffield Shield title and, at 27, he has added leadership qualities, more experience and maturity since he last played for Australia.

Cooper Connolly is the other former Test player who's been mentioned in dispatches.

Connolly played his one and only Test in Sri Lanka, where he batted at eight scoring four runs.

He hasn't played a first-class match since last March — one of four he played for Western Australia — scoring 216 runs in total with a top score of 70 and an average of 30.85.

He was part of the Australian team on the limited overs tour of Bangladesh highlighted by his man of the match performance in the third ODI where he scored 149 as an opener alongside Inglis.

Earlier in the year he scored 107 off just 59 balls for Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League to become the youngest ever overseas centurion in that competition.

The Western Australian will turn 23 this year and so has youth on his side and is sure to play a part in Australia's Test side in the future.

The question is: Is he ready now?

Another youngster whose name keeps coming up is Victoria's Campbell Kellaway, who scored 509 runs in the last Shield season with one century and two 50s at an average of 26.78.

Kellaway was a member of the Cricket Australia XI which beat Bangladesh by an innings in a warm-up match in Darwin before the first Test.

Unfortunately, he was bowled for a duck off five balls.

Another young gun, Sam Konstas, has failed to grab his chances at the highest level.

The New South Welshman is unbelievably still only 20 but seems to have packed more into his brief career than many more senior players.

The five Tests he played following his dynamic Boxing Day debut against India two years ago have netted Konstas 163 runs at an average of 16.3.

Like Kellaway, he failed in the recent tour match against Bangladesh scoring 1.

Konstas is a constant in the selectors sights with a credible 660 runs in last season's Sheffield Shield at an average of 33.

The issue seems to be taming the impetuosity and proving he has the temperament to grind out a Test innings.

The forgotten man in Australian cricket is 33-year-old Kurtis Patterson.

Patterson scored 619 runs for NSW in the last Shield season at an average of 36.41.

His two Tests against Sri Lanka in 2019 included a not-out century but he was a victim of timing, squeezed out of the side as David Warner and Steve Smith returned from bans following the sandpaper scandal.

Patterson was a member of the CA XI, scoring 53 batting at number three which shows he's still in the thinking of selectors.