Aussies go for middle-man as leading openers miss again

George Bailey insists leading Sheffield Shield openers remain in the national selection panel's thinking despite looking elsewhere for a Test opener for the fourth time in three years.

Nathan McSweeney will take on the new ball in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series opener in Perth despite having never opened at Shield level and doing it only for the first time in first-class cricket for Australia A this week.

Specialist openers Marcus Harris, Cameron Bancroft and Sam Konstas were all overlooked, with Bailey admitting it would be a "hollow" feeling for Harris and Bancroft in particular, given both have fought fruitlessly for recalls in recent years. Matthew Renshaw, the spare batter for Australia's most recent Test series in New Zealand, may feel the same.

"I think Marcus Harris is still in good touch," Bailey said of the Victorian who made a fighting 74 on a difficult MCG pitch against India A and appeared McSweeney's strongest competitor for the Test spot.

"By not selecting a player doesn't mean that we don't think they're a good player – just think Nathan's going really well.

"Clearly, a lot's been written and said about Sam Konstas. I think he's continuing to improve, and that he looks a really bright prospect for the future.

"And despite not spending much time in the middle, I actually think Cameron Bancroft's still batting really well – just with no runs. But we still value Shield cricket, and it's challenging at the top."

But McSweeney's elevation is in keeping with each of the previous calls Australia have made on the Test opening spot since Bailey took over as chair of the men's team's selection panel in mid-2021.

The first was the decision to move Usman Khawaja up from No.5 after he hit twin tons in the 2021-22 Ashes Test at the SCG when Travis Head missed with illness. When Head returned for the following match, Harris was dropped and Khawaja was partnered with David Warner.

The next came on last year's India tour when Warner fractured his elbow mid-series. This time Head was put up to open, with the belief his aggressive style would suit turning surfaces. It proved a sound judgement as he made 43, 9 and 49no on diabolical pitches in Delhi and Indore, then 32 and 90 on a flatter wicket in Ahmedabad. It's a ploy Australia may use again when they return to the subcontinent for two Tests against Sri Lanka in January-February.

Then came the Steve Smith decision. Warner's retirement last summer coincided with selectors wanting to get Cameron Green back into the XI. Smith was eager for a new challenge, neatly allowing Green to take his place at four.

Despite faring steadily – he played a tremendous hand at the Gabba to almost singlehandedly lead Australia to victory against West Indies – Smith's enthusiasm waned for the role and his move back to four for the upcoming home campaign against India was confirmed after Green went in for season-ending back surgery.

That has opened the door for McSweeney, with his selection only differing from the previous examples by dint of him not being an incumbent; like Khawaja, Head and Smith, McSweeney was not a regular opener upon being handed the role.

The relative success of those previous decisions, especially compared with the revolving door of opening partners Warner had before his solid late-career union with Khawaja, supports the prevailing view that a specialist opener is not a necessity.

"I don't think it's a huge adjustment to go from three to opening," said Bailey. "In the 15 or so games that (McSweeney) has batted at three for South Australia, I think he's been in before the 10th over about 20 times. So he's had plenty of experience (facing the new ball)."

Indeed, McSweeney has been called to the crease before the 10th over in 12 of the 29 first-class innings he has played between the start of the 2023-24 season and the beginning of the recent 'A' series.

No Australian has scored more first-class runs in Australia (excluding Tests) during that period than McSweeney, who has 1,315 at 46.96 including four hundreds.

"Over the last 12 or 15 months, we're seeing a player whose growth is on a great trajectory. He's a very organised, composed player at the crease and think he's got a game that will really suit Test cricket," said Bailey.

The selector conceded all of that would be cold comfort to the Test hopefuls who missed out.

"It's a tough one because I think whenever the information is first given, it potentially feels hollow that they've been overlooked again," said Bailey.

"But it's just to be really clear to them that by not being selected isn't us saying that we don't think you're a good player.

"We just have to make a decision on who we think is going to fit that role best and at the moment, we think that's Nathan."

The exercise of picking an opener may well be one the panel needs to soon repeat, even though Bailey responded with trademark humour when a question was put to him about needing to replace Khawaja in the "short- or medium-term".

"Or long," the smiling selector said of the Queenslander who has scored 546 more Test runs than the next best performed Australian batter since his recall in 2022.

Yet the fact that Khawaja turns 38 on day five of the third Test against India will not have been overlooked by selectors.

Nor will it have gone unnoticed that their choice of the 25-year-old McSweeney will see them avoid picking a first-Test XI that has every member of its XI over 30.

Bailey insisted the likes of Bancroft, Harris and Konstas do not need to be reminded an opening spot may again be up for grabs soon.

"I don't necessarily think those guys need to be told that – they're seasoned, hardy professionals, and they know how it works," he said.

"I think we've spoken to that in the past – Test cricket, we pick for the here and now, particularly given the way the (World) Test Championship is set up, each Test is critical.

"'Buddha' (McSweeney) is a super age, but it's purely about picking the player we thought would be best suited."

NRMA Insurance Men's Test Series v India

First Test: November 22-26: Perth Stadium, 1.20pm AEDT

Second Test: December 6-10: Adelaide Oval, 3pm AEDT (D/N)

Third Test: December 14-18: The Gabba, Brisbane, 11.20am AEDT

Fourth Test: December 26-30: MCG, Melbourne, 10.30am AEDT

Fifth Test: January 3-7: SCG, Sydney, 10.30am AEDT

Australia squad (first Test only): Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Nathan McSweeney, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc

India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar. Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed