Australia’s right-arm off break bowler Nathan Lyon has come out in support of the struggling opener Matt Renshaw admitting he has the support of Australia’s ‘inner sanctum’.
The Test opener has had a delightful start to his international career, however, had managed to score only 70 runs in the last six innings for Queensland in the first three encounters of JLT Sheffield Shield.
Former Test opener Chris Rogers was of the opinion that Renshaw could lose his spot for the first Magellan Ashes Test at Gabba, especially after Western Australia’s Cameron Bancroft posted a mammoth total of unbeaten 228 runs after scoring two fifties against a star-studded NSW bowling attack.
However, Lyon was confident about Renshaw retaining his opening slot when the selectors pick the squad on Friday, pointing his magnificent knock of 184 runs against Pakistan in Australia’s last Test on home soil.
Both Lyon and the Queenslander captain Usman Khawaja was of the opinion that Renshaw was unlucky in both the innings, having been out on doubtful caught-behind in the first innings, while he was lucklessly caught down the leg in the second innings.
“The last Test he played in Australia, he got 180. I’m not a selector, but I like Matt. I’m a big fan of Matt Renshaw. He’s a class batter; he got unlucky in two dismissals here. Playing cricket for Australia, you’re going to come under scrutiny from media and the public,” Lyon told after NSW’s six wickets win.
Despite getting out cheaply, the left-handed batsman looked composed while facing the likes of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, and Jose Hazlewood, who were bowling with raw pace and didn’t hesitate to test him with bouncers.
“(It was) the perfect practice to go out there and face the best bowlers in the world. But if you’re in the inner sanctum, if you’ve got the support – which he does – then usually you can get out of that (negative) headspace and perform well,” the spinner further added.
The 29-year-old spinner was also under media criticism after the spinner lost his Test spot last summer after the selectors made a lot of changes in the wake of Australia’s five straight defeats.
“It can be difficult. But as I said, if you’ve got the support around the inner sanctum, and the players and the coaching staff (then) the media can write what they want, the public can think what they want. There’s going to be times through this whole Test series where everyone is going to be placed under pressure. It’s just about how we bounce back and be resilient and try to put the Poms under pressure. And make them feel as uncomfortable as possible. It’s a massive summer, and I can’t wait,” Lyon stated further.
Khawaja, who looks to get back his no three spot in the Australian team added Renshaw is a very good player and was confident of fate’s turnaround.
“Cricket is one of those games where it goes up and down, but it always goes in circles no matter who you are. He’s got a few good starts and a couple of unlucky dismissals. That’s just cricket. I’m sure he’ll turn it around,” the southpaw signed off.
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