In hindsight, if anyone was going to open out of the newbies, Harper on recent red ball form was the better prospect. 2nd in the Shield aggregate last season, and coming off a red ball ton v India A. Thank fudge Renshaw batted 5, was able to dig in using his opener experience after lunch, if it was Head at 5, it would if been boom or bust…Head’s record overseas is pretty dismal in red ball cricket.
Sadly the ‘real’ Beau Webster is starting to surface…the more he plays at this level, the more we see why he was a good honest shield player for 10 years before making his test debut. Carey unfortunately is not a test number 6. Whatever folk think of Cummins, you can’t fault his ability to rise to a crisis, and stand tall. 220 will be a chance…250 a bonus…but then, Aust will need to bowl well on day 2 to stay in the game.
Kudos to Bailey et al for having the nous to bat Renshaw at 5 instead of opening…good to have some clear thinking for once…good rear guard fightback by the Renshaw and the lower order.
BH did you petition for Renshaw to come back in as an opener or at 5 mate?..or just anywhere in the top 6? I guess when Green comes back, Renshaw can replace that other player you petitioned for a few years back, in Webster…or do you want both in?
I also said the Webster experiment was done during the SL series Freeze…
He has served his purpose as I called for long before Bailey & co cottoned on to it, was a stop gap measure that now needs Connolly to take over in the side!
Aust fans can only hope Renshaw builds from this innings, and develops into a reliable run scorer for Aust in the test arena, averaging 40+ during his test career. Time will tell I guess, whether Renshaw at 30 yrs of age, is merely a stop gap like Webster for a couple of years, until someone else preferably younger, puts their hand up offering hope…who may that be BH, when you put on that half rate selectors hat of yours? Connolly and Peake surely would need to score first class tons before getting a proper crack at it.
I reckon most on here are looking at the Maddo selection the wrong way. In one world, and most likely Bailey’s et al world…Maddo opening, and Renshaw at 5 is a success…between them both, they contributed 190 runs…95 each…who’s to say Maddo’s 33 ball, 53 min epic took a fair lick of shiny sheen off the cherry, setting up Renshaw, and his epic 190 contribution. Who cares who does what…as long as it gets done. How much did the establish bats in Head, Labuschagne, Smith, Carey and Webster contribute?
Bottom line is Maddinson got a Duck and probably should have batted down the order and Renshaw posted a Magnificent 190 and should have batted up the order.
There’s still another Innings to go to see how Nick in particular can go,but most of us,still believe McDonald and Bailey got it wrong.
If you want to Swim against the tide and fly the flag for those 2,fair enough,that’s your prerogative.
But rightly or wrongly,calls for them to step down get longer and louder.
Mate there’s many a way to skin a cat…who is to say Renshaw would of scored 190 going in first…and there’s nothing wrong with a different take on things…breaks up the endless repetitive narrative a bit…of course George et al have reached their expiry dates…bottom line is that Aust made 390…and Renshaw made 190 @ 5 not 1, SA are 1/27…think most Aust fans would of taken that when Cummins came into bat.
And unlike myself you didnt even want Renshaw in the team Freeze remember?
Apparently hadnt scored any runs in the Shield lol
But according to you Maddinson getting picked is ok even though not only hasnt he scored runs in the Shield he hasnt even played in it for 2 years!!! LOL
And you seemingly forget Maddinson was plumb lbw about 20 balls earlier but the Saffies must have been liking what they saw of his continual plays and misses and took pity on him and didnt review! LOL
Freeze Bailey and his cronies had a Test level batsman in Renshaw staring them in the face for years as the long term replacement for Warner while they wasted Tests on the likes of Weatherald, Konstas, McSweeney etc who were either not at the level or in Konstas case not mature enough mentally for Test cricket. There is still time for Konstas if he can knuckle down and score proper runs in Shield cricket as an opener instead of trying to play ridiculous funky big bash shots.
Casting my eye over the Shield there is no immediate legitimate Test opener although there are a number of players on a silly Indian tour for Australia A at the moment, Davies obviously has promise but can he consistently score runs at this level on our different playing surfaces and bowling attacks across the country is yet to be determined!
I have been on the record as saying for the short term my Test batting line up would be-
BH, Renshaw averaged 28 in 2023/24, averaged 31 in 2024/25 and finally came right in 2025/26, averaging 49, so excuse my hesitation in wanting him selected for the Ashes or India home series, when he was coming off 2 crap back to back seasons before hand. The guy has been on the FC circuit for 10 years, showed snippets, but averaged under 40…as Haydos and Ponting say…go play footy if you can’t average 40 + at Shield level.
Never ever said Maddo’s selection or Konstas etc were OK personally, just merely provided another side to why Maddo was selected…and considering there are two innings each, he could still score some runs…though most on here hope he doesn’t, from the sounds of things.
The thing which makes me laugh the hardest is that for Bailey et al, to be given the chop, Aust needed to lose to SA and NZ, and lose badly…Renshaw, your selection, has kept those Bailey et al fires burning, by scoring 190, and getting Aust to a competitive 390…Renshaw really should of done the popular thing, and failed, to help sink those boots into Bailey et al. Sadly they will get the plaudits for batting Renshaw at 5, not all the wannabe selectors sitting on their couches at home.
With Green and Inglis out, perhaps Renshaw was considered the safer bet to perform at 5 then Maddo or Harper or Connolly, would of…if Green had been fit, Renshaw was definitely going to open. Plus Maddo at 34, is the better bet as the sacrificial lamb, then a younger Harper or Connolly, for playing in SA, which is as we know and unforgiving place to play.
