Renshaw braces for Barmy Army banter

Matt Renshaw expects to be sledged by the Barmy Army and his childhood mate Joe Root as the Australia Test opener prepares to face his birth country for the first time.

The 21-year-old, who has worn the Baggy Green 10 times since his debut last year, says it would be a "dream come true" to play in the Magellan Ashes.

But it wasn't until he moved to Brisbane as a 10-year-old that he started dreaming of representing Australia.

Born in Yorkshire, Renshaw played cricket with Root when he was younger and admits the England captain has plenty of dirt on him that will resurface come the series opener at the Gabba on November 23.

"I used to cry when I got out and he's probably going to pull that one out maybe, I'm not sure," the left-hander told reporters on Tuesday.

"It'll be interesting to see.

"I've got a few family friends coming out for the Ashes ... it'd be nice to play in front of them.

"It's probably a little more (special) playing against my birth country but it'd be great to beat them, wouldn't it?"

Asked if he intended to catch up with Root in a social setting during the Ashes, Renshaw said: "Hopefully I can catch him a couple of times at first slip.

"He's a very good player and hopefully we can get him out quite quickly early on.

"He's one of the best four batsmen in the world at the moment, so we've just got to treat him like any other batsman and try and get him out cheaply.

"They'll probably be doing the same with Smithy."

Renshaw expects to be the target of plenty of banter from the Barmy Army, and they may have a few bonus voices courtesy of his teammates at the Toombul District Cricket Club in Brisbane.

"They said they were going to join in the songs with them as soon as they learned them," he said.

"It's going to be interesting having the Barmy Army out and the boys down at third man.

"It'll be great, I'll probably try and learn them as well."

Brisbane Heat on Tuesday announced they'd signed Renshaw to his maiden KFC Big Bash League contract, with the left-hander revealing a desire to play all three formats for Australia.

Renshaw is confident he can balance the demands of Twenty20 cricket and still maintain his patient approach to Test cricket.

But his first priority is ensuring he retains his spot at the top of the batting order for the opener against England on November 23.

Renshaw's position is not under any immediate threat, despite national selector Mark Waugh describing his form as "patchy" after he made 17 and 16 in Queensland's emphatic JLT Sheffield Shield win over Victoria at the weekend.

"I'm not worrying about it yet... but from a confidence point of view, you want your openers playing well," Waugh told Big Sports Breakfast.

Renshaw hasn't heard from selectors recently but said he was happy enough with his own form.

"It's not too bad," he said.

"You obviously want to go on and score big runs but I had a fairly good time out in the middle in the first Shield game.

"I probably threw it away a couple of times there, so next time just try and bat all day.

"I haven't spoken to selectors but obviously everyone wants more runs before that first Test just to really confirm their place."

Assuming he does, Renshaw is hopeful he can fit in a game or two of BBL in between his Ashes commitments over the summer.

He seems completely ill-suited to the shorter forms of the game and acknowledged it will probably take him a while to adapt, having not played any T20 beyond grade cricket.

"I'll probably have to go to the nets and slog a few before I go out there so I'm a bit warmed up. It's going to be interesting," he said.

"Hopefully I can just learn on the go.

"I think down the track I would love to play all three forms for Australia."

2017-18 International Fixtures:

Magellan Ashes Series

First Test Gabba, November 23-27. Buy tickets

Second Test Adelaide Oval, December 2-6 (Day-Night). Buy tickets

Third Test WACA Ground, December 14-18. Buy tickets

Fourth Test MCG, December 26-30. Buy tickets

Fifth Test SCG, January 4-8 (Pink Test). Buy tickets

Gillette ODI Series v England

First ODI MCG, January 14. Buy tickets

Second ODI Gabba, January 19. Buy tickets

Third ODI SCG, January 21. Buy tickets

Fourth ODI Adelaide Oval, January 26. Buy tickets

Fifth ODI Perth TBC, January 28. Join the ACF

Prime Minister's XI

PM's XI v England Manuka Oval, February 2. Buy tickets

Gillette T20 INTL Series

First T20I Australia v NZ, SCG, February 3. Buy tickets

Second T20I – Australia v England, Blundstone Arena, February 7. Buy tickets

Third T20I – Australia v England, MCG, February 10. Buy tickets

Fourth T20I – NZ v England, Wellington, February 13

Fifth T20I – NZ v Australia, Eden Park, February 16

Sixth T20I – NZ v England, Seddon Park, February 18

Final – TBC, Eden Park, February 21