Harris embraces open mind after 'consuming' year

Marcus Harris is content knowing where he stands for a Test recall as he enters the new Sheffield Shield season having challenged himself "more than ever before".

Helped by a specific white-ball focus during Victoria's preseason and an emphasis on mindset training with a sports psychologist, the 32-year-old says that the question of Test selection is no longer weighing on him like it was 12 months ago.

It's still there in the background, particularly with the debate around whether Steve Smith is the right man to open and the unknown of Cameron Green's back injury, but Harris isn't consumed by it anymore.

While he admits he's had an almost exclusive focus on red ball cricket in recent years, which he doesn't regret doing, the left-hander is ready to embrace new possibilities in 2024-25 following a preseason where he spent just as much time rekindling his T20 skills as he did on his four-day game.

"That's the difference for me this year, I haven't got that (Test selection) hanging over my head like I had last year," Harris told cricket.com.au ahead of the domestic season.

"I know where I stand and in the position I'm in, with the age I am, I know that I need to knock the door down if I'm going to have any chance again.

"It seems they're pretty settled with who the six batters are. But they're not really too sure what the order is going to be.

"So it'll unfold the way it unfolds. It'd be interesting if they went and changed our opening batter again after only four Tests of a (new) opening partnership."

Harris says he found it tough to escape the unknown of his Test future this time last year. With David Warner retiring, the hottest topic during the first six rounds of the Shield season and the bat-off in the Prime Minister's XI fixture last December was whether it would be Harris, Cameron Bancroft or Matthew Renshaw that replaced him.

Harris had entered last season at the head of the pack too. He'd been included in the national men's contract list for 2023-24 ahead of Bancroft and Renshaw in what selection chair George Bailey described at the time as "an eye to the future". He'd also spent the 2023 winter as part of Australia's Ashes squad in England.

But as it transpired, all three missed out as selectors opted to promote from within, elevating Smith to open alongside Usman Khawaja against West Indies and New Zealand to get allrounder Green back into the Test side at No.4.

Harris expressed his disappointment in the aftermath and has spoken of the difficult phone call he made to former Victorian mentor and current Australia head coach Andrew McDonald.

Encouraged by family and friends, the opener has made a conscious effort to work on the mental side of his game with renowned sport and performance psychologist Jonah Oliver and says he begins the new campaign feeling freer than he has in years past.

Fatherhood has helped that freedom too, with that another all-consuming factor at the beginning of last season after he and wife Cat welcomed their son Max just two days before the Vics' first game of 2023-24.

"He was front and centre for the whole season, which was really good, but it's obviously a life changing thing," Harris said.

"So it was a challenging season last year, but with Max coming around, it puts things into perspective a little bit more.

"The challenge is trying not to let cricket come home with you too much, especially with a young kid. 

"And I'd be lying if I said that I'm able to switch it off as soon as I get home, it’s always a challenge. 

"But when you have a little kid, things change in the order of what's more important and what's not. 

"He's one now so I wouldn't say it's getting easier, but I'm getting more used to being a dad."

Harris hit a half-century in Victoria's last match – the second of their two One-Day Cup wins to start the season – and says he's already noticing a difference in the mental side of his game heading into Tuesday's Sheffield Shield opener against Tasmania at Junction Oval.

Victoria squad: Peter Handscomb (c), Ashley Chandrasinghe, Xavier Crone, Sam Elliott, Sam Harper, Marcus Harris, Campbell Kellaway, Cameron McClure, Jono Merlo, Todd Murphy, Fergus O'Neill, Mitch Perry, Tom Rogers

 

Tasmania squad: Gabe Bell, Jake Doran, Kieran Elliott, Brad Hope, Caleb Jewell, Matt Kuhnemann, Lawrence Neil-Smith, Mitch Owen, Jordan Silk (c), Charlie Wakim, Tim Ward, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster

"I don't regret doing that … (going) all in with red ball cricket," said Harris, who started the 2021-22 Ashes opening with Warner and ran drinks for the Test squad for a large part of the 18 months that followed until the end of last year's away Ashes contest.

"But now I'm more open minded into trying some different stuff.

"The first time I got to (implement) some of the stuff that we've been working on was up in Darwin with the Renegades (during the Top End T20 tournament in August) and playing some different (middle-order) roles in T20.

"(I was) actually open minded about doing it and found that I went alright (with scores of 51 and 29) playing in different positions that I hadn't played before."

He's hopeful it may lead to more opportunities with Melbourne Renegades, who have three list spots remaining for KFC BBL|14.

Harris connected with Oliver after hearing him on a podcast. Other athletes Oliver has worked with include 2022 Open champion Cameron Smith and Paris 2024 gold medallist Nina Kennedy among many others across golf, AFL, soccer, V8 Supercars, tennis and Olympic sports.

"It's not so much cricket specific, it's relative to what you're trying to do," explains Harris.

"I've made a conscious effort to go and do a lot of work away from cricket … in the cricket environment, don't get me wrong, the psych's are really good, but it feels like everything's a bit the same for everyone and I want to try and do my own thing.

"He's not going to make you feel good, but he can help you deal with all the emotions that you deal with through cricket, especially in four- and five-day cricket when it's really long.

"Especially last year with having a baby at the start of the season, it becomes all a bit consuming when you got a lot going on.

"I didn't really want to wait until I'm not going too well again and be like, 'Oh shit, I really wish I had done some work with someone'.

"I've worked with people before, but being more open minded with it and actually really stepping into it has been the main thing.

"I'm definitely feeling a lot freer coming into this season than what I did last year."