With Australia’s opening position vacant ahead of the intriguing series against India, Mitchell Starc dealt leading contender Marcus Harris no favours during a testing spell at the MCG on Sunday when claiming the scalp of the Victorian.
The Sheffield Shield clash between Victoria and New South Wales features a stellar cast of international and domestic stars a month out from the first Test of the summer in Perth, with the battle to find an opening partner for Usman Khawaja a leading plot line.
Harris, who has averaged 25.29 in 14 Tests, and impressive NSW teenager Sam Konstas, along with Western Australian Cameron Bancroft and Matthew Renshaw, are all in the mix for the position, Australian coach Andrew McDonald said on Saturday.
McDonald would prefer the battle to partner Khawaja was not described as a “bat-off” but said selectors will weigh carefully both historical form and the deeds of the quartet over the next month of matches.
Harris and Konstas will feature in matches for Australia A against India A in Mackay and at the MCG in late October and early November, while Bancroft and Renshaw have two more Shield matches to mount their case for selection.
“The usual candidates who have been discussed over a period of time – Bancroft, Harris and Renshaw – they are three who are in the conversation, and then obviously the work that Sam Konstas did in the first Shield game — albeit he has only played five Shield games — has given him an opportunity within the Australia A set-up to go about his business there,” McDonald said.
“One thing to remember among the Australia A teams and the way we are structuring up there is that we have a bit of an eye for the future selections and a bit of an eye to the here and now. Some will say that Renshaw and (Nic) Maddison and potentially (Peter) Handscomb are a little stiff not to be in that team … but we always want to have a balance within those Australia A teams.
“If I say it is about historical work and the amount of runs you have made previously, it rules out Konstas, so I am not going to say that. It is not a ‘bat-off’. All things will be taken into consideration around the final decision that we make. We have some left-handed options. We have some right-handed options. It is what we reward at that point of time. They are all in the conversation.”
Harris earned Man of the Match honours in Victoria’s draw with Tasmania in the opening round of Sheffield Shield matches with scores of 143 and 52 but missed an opportunity to further his claims in the intriguing domestic clash on Sunday.
Sent into bat by a NSW attack featuring Test performers Starc and Nathan Lyon, along with fellow topliners Jackson Bird and Sean Abbott, Harris batted conservatively throughout an opening session in which Victoria managed just 63 runs.
Abbott, who secured the wicket of Ash Chandrasinge for 11 with a peach of a delivery that found the edge of the opener’s bat, squared Harris up on occasion but the Test hopeful was able to survive the opening two hours on a slow MCG outfield.
Heavy rain in Victoria on Friday left the ground waterlogged and sand was spread across the ground, which slowed the outfield.
As a prime example, an hour into the opening session, Harris executed a lovely on-drive from the bowling of Abbott, who was the most dangerous New South Wales bowler early on. Crisply struck, it raced off the bat, only to slow drastically as it neared the boundary.
But Starc, who opened the bowling alongside Bird, challenged the former Test opener soon after lunch in a fascinating battle.
In the 30th over, the left-arm quick was on song as he drew the opener forward into shots before tempting him with a shorter-pitched delivery aimed at the Victorian’s hips, which Harris managed to glove to wicketkeeper Josh Philippe to fall for 29 from 89 balls.
At drinks in the second session, Victoria was 2-98 from 40 overs, with Campbell Kellaway unbeaten on 28 and former Test batsman Peter Handscomb on 19.
McDonald, meanwhile, said form and not experience would be the primary consideration when selecting Australia’s next opener.
Quizzed as to whether the strength of India meant it was unlikely Australia would blood Konstas in the five Test series, McDonald told ABC Grandstand the priority would be selecting the strongest team possible, regardless of experience.
“(That will be given) no consideration whatsoever,” he said.
“We are going to pick the best Australian team at that point in time, whether that includes a 19-year-old kid or a 32-year-old who has stacked on the runs over a long period of time. That will be the decision that we make.
“It is for the people on the outside to critique what type of opposition we are coming up against and whether you are blooding players against an inferior opponent, but we don’t see it that way. We respect every Test match.
“Clearly the World Test Championship is a huge part of that as well. We are battling away to make the final this year. We potentially have to win four of our last seven games, so we have a huge challenge ahead of us.”
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