Former Australian head coach Justin Langer has sparked renewed speculation over who will replace David Warner as a Test opener during the West Indies test series. Langer claims that he would only consider a specialist opener for the position.
David Warner will retire from the longer format of the game after the last game of the series, which will be played at his home field. As a result, the Australian team will need to find a new opening partner for Usman Khawaja. Potential successors for Warner include Mitchell Marsh, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, and a few specialized openers.
During the Channel 7 broadcast of Australia’s Boxing Day Test win over Pakistan, Justin Langer stated that he would not be moving Cameron Green up the order. This advice is sure to reach the ears of the current selection panel, and Langer’s statements could have just shortened the race from four to three contenders.
Besides, he believes that it will be a tough job for the selector to pick the specialised opener to partner Usman Khawaja.
“One thing for certain, in my opinion, it must be a specialist opener, There’s lots of discussion that maybe it’s a Mitch Marsh, maybe it’s Cameron Green to fit everyone in, but my view is that it’s got to be a specialist”.
“We tried it with Aaron Finch, we tried it with Matthew Wade, to their credit they did it for the team, but it tells me that you need a specialist opener. There’s Cameron Bancroft, Marcus Harris, and Matt Renshaw are the three obvious ones, the toughest thing for the selectors will be which one they pick,” Justin Langer said.
There were talks of changing the roles of some non-starters in the Australian cricket team. However, Mitchell Marsh, Travis Head, and Marnus Labuschagne have all declined the offer to open the innings. Marcus Harris, Cameron Bancroft, and Matthew Renshaw are the top contenders for the Sheffield Shield and have previously played for the Baggy Green.
Cameron Green was dropped from the Australian XI during the Ashes this year due to the superior performance of Mitchell Marsh. Despite his potential, he had to sit on the bench. After a successful international career of over a decade, David Warner has decided to retire from red-ball cricket after the New Year’s Test in Sydney.
