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After David Warner’s retirement, Australia’s captain
Pat Cummins reached out to Marcus Harris and Cameron Bancroft to reassure them
that they are still very much in the running for Test honours.
The other two specialist openers are still out of the
running, with Steven Smith moving up to open, Cameron Green coming back at No.
4 against the West Indies in Adelaide, and Matt Renshaw being chosen as the
reserve batter.
Midway through the most recent season, Bancroft is
still the top scorer in the Sheffield Shield, whereas Harris, who has a central
contract, was the backup batter on the Ashes tour the previous year.
“Obviously private phone calls, but no real
surprises,” Cummins said in Adelaide. “We love what they both are
doing in first-class cricket. We love what they bring to any side they’re
playing in. They’re doing all the right things. Unfortunately, they both just
missed out on this one. So [the] message was ‘don’t change’.
“In international cricket, there’s always
injuries or these guys [the incumbents] aren’t going to be around forever.
Marcus and Cam are still relatively young, as is Renners. So once that opening
comes up at some point, any one of them we’re confident can jump straight in
and do a really good job.”
After the Sydney Test, Cummins was asked about
replacing Warner and first seemed ambivalent about the concept of switching up
the batting order. However, he has since stated that it made perfect sense to
move Green back to his more comfortable place after Smith’s choice was given
careful thought.
Smith has expressed that he does not like having to
bat from position four. He has also stated that the shift is not a temporary
fix, even though he hasn’t said whether it will extend his Test career. Cummins
has already observed a change at training.
“Seeing someone who’s basically achieved
everything in the game get really excited for a new challenge, you’ve got to
entertain that,” he said. “You can already see his mind whirring
about how he’s maybe going to go about it a bit differently.
“I’ve never seen him as happy and as energetic as
I’ve seen him around the nets the last couple of days. He can’t wait to get out
there. Also think the new ball, maybe [there will be] a few more scoring
options. It’s something that excites him. So that makes sense and getting
Greeny a spot where we think he is set up to succeed.”