Former Australian batsman Michael Hussey has urged the Australian selectors not to replace David Warner with a makeshift opener in red-ball cricket. Instead, he suggested that they should reward a specialist opener who has excelled in Sheffield Shield cricket. The Baggy Greens are likely to announce a new opener for the West Indies series, which begins on January 17th.
The final game of the series will be played at David Warner’s home ground, where he will retire from the longer format of the game. In light of this, the Australian team will be looking for a new opening partner for Usman Khawaja. Mitchell Marsh, Travis Head, and Marnus Labuschagne have been seen as potential replacements for David Warner.
Speaking to the media ahead of the Boxing Day test, Michael Hussey feels that Australia’s selectors should select a specialist opener for the first Test against the West Indies in January after Warner retires at the end of the Pakistan series and believes that playing Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head would be best for the Australian team in test cricket.
“Opening is one of the toughest jobs in the game, So for me personally, if I was selecting, I’d be going for a traditional, proper opener. Someone who has done it for a long period of time. Because if you haven’t done it much in your first-class career, it’s going to be very difficult to come up the order”.
“I’m not saying you can’t do it, and maybe someone could evolve into doing that role. But I think it would be difficult for a player like Mitch Marsh or someone – I know there’s been talk about him going up the order – I think he’s probably more suited, much like Travis Head, to be in the middle-order. I think that’d be the best for the balance of the Australian team,” Michael Hussey said.
The discussion about who should take David Warner’s place in the team is still ongoing, even though Australia’s squad is currently quite stable in red-ball cricket. The main contenders for the specialist opening role are Marcus Harris, Cameron Bancroft, and Matt Renshaw, who has done exceedingly well in domestic cricket. Head and Marsh have made it clear that they would rather not take on the responsibility of opening the batting.
I Think That Sends A Great Message To The Competition – Michael Hussey
Michael Hussey believes that the players who have excelled in Sheffield Shield Cricket should be given a chance to represent the country at the highest level. He acknowledged that it would be a challenging task for the selectors to choose the right candidate for future matches and hopes that good performers in domestic cricket are rewarded for their hard work and dedication.
“I like whoever’s dominating the level below, who’s been dominating in Sheffield Shield cricket over a period of time, and to be fair, they all have at various stages, So it’s a tough job for the selectors. I don’t want to stand here and say it should be this guy or this guy”.
“I hope that they reward the guy that’s been performing very well at Sheffield Shield cricket. I think that sends a great message to the competition. And it’s great for our pathways that we’re going to reward the guys that are doing well,” Michael Hussey added.
Specialist openers Marcus Harris, Cameron Bancroft, and Matthew Renshaw all made runs in the Prime Minister’s XI’s match against Pakistan and will be in contention for a spot in the West Indies series.
