Almanac Cricket – ACS Literary Scholar Report: An Opening Conundrum

 

Lorenzo Di-Mauro Hayes is the Australian Cricket Society’s literary scholar and is mentored by writer John Harms. This is his latest report for the Australian Cricket Society.

 

 

The Ashes series is just weeks away and the questions surrounding the openers are about to grow louder. For those in the conversation, it’s time to stand up and be counted. This is as anticipated a start to a Sheffield Shield season as we’ve had in years. After a brilliant final in March 2025, the Shield will be where those craving the role of opener can audition. Could it be any of the following batters?

 

Sam Konstas

The incumbent in the role, Konstas had a poor series in the West Indies to say the least. Across the three Tests he averaged a mere eight runs. After that, it was almost inevitable that he would spend the next few summers in the Sheffield Shield. At the start of September, few would have named Konstas as their opener for the First Test of the Ashes series. But then, during the Australia A tour of India, across two innings he scored 188 which included a century. While Konstas looks like the star of the future, he is still no guarantee to be the star of the now. For all the chat that surrounded him, Konstas was the disruptor to the series against India. He laid the foundation for Australia winning that series. His Boxing Day morning display at the MCG began one of the greatest Test matches ever played.

 

Marnus Labuschagne

What to do with Marnus? It’s ironic his name is in the discussion for opener, because when he arrived as a concussion substitute for Steve Smith during the 2019 Ashes series, he fulfilled Australia’s great need at the time; to find a consistent number three. His blockbuster start still ensures his career Test average of 46.19 with 11 centuries. However, he has not reached triple figures since July 2023. That was until the first round of the 2025-2026 Sheffield Shield where batting from three he made 160 off 206 and was named man of the match. If he doesn’t take the opener’s slot, he will likely slide into the number three spot. Off the back of the one innings, that feels the most probable outcome.

 

Jake Weatherald

Of all those who are yet to get their hand on the iconic baggy green, Weatherald looks to have the best chance. Weatherald feels like he has been around for a while, but should he debut in the Test arena at the start of the series, he would only be six months older than Mike Hussey on his debut. Weatherald was the best batter in the Sheffield Shield last year. He made 906 runs, averaging 50.33 when opening for Tasmania. He scored three centuries and had a top score of 186 against Queensland. If he remains at the top or near the top of the Sheffield Shield aggregate, it becomes difficult to justify his non-entry. His opening match scores of 67 and 57 continued that great Shield run of form. The way he has batted in the last twelve months, he looks the part of the Ashes opener.

 

Marcus Harris

Harris has been consistently in these discussions for a while. His numbers are not too dissimilar to Cam Bancroft. While he hasn’t played a Test since the last Australian Ashes, he will have no dramas dealing with that pressure. However, Harris is 33 and this team does not have a shortage of guys over the age of 30. He is averaging in the mid-30s since being dropped in the Sheffield Shield and three of the four centuries he has made, have been at the Junction Oval. Leading into this Shield season, he has had a better twelve months at first-class level than all of his competitors with the exception of Weatherald, including Konstas. In all likelihood, he will have little opening experience from this summer with Victoria set on Campbell Kellaway and Blake Macdonald as their openers. But if he scores heavily, he will remain in the selectors’ mind.

Cam Bancroft

When David Warner retired, Bancroft was in the best form of his career post sandpaper-gate. But the selectors went with Steve Smith and Bancroft looks like he has missed the boat. In a 42 innings stretch in the Shield, he had scored 2,021 runs at an average of 54.62. But a torrid start to last year’s Shield season saw McSweeney being picked over him. While he looked promising when playing for Gloucestershire, he will need to do a lot across October and November to get back in the Australian side. Scores of 10 and three, which he made in his first Shield outing, will not be enough.

 

Matt Renshaw

Renshaw is an outsider in this race. He burst onto the scene, similar to Konstas and made a score of 184 in his sixth Test innings against Pakistan. He was left out of the 2017-2018 Ashes which began his yo-yo relationship with the Test team being picked and dropped twice since. The 29-year-old’s record for Queensland suggests that he is better placed in the middle order than he is as an opener. Unfortunately for Renshaw, Steve Smith, Travis Head and Alex Carey have positions four to six all locked up, for good reason. He would attract attention should he start the season well but with his last two Shield averages being 34 and 29, it would be a reversal in form. Scoring 128 in Queensland’s Shield opener against Tasmaina, was that much needed reversal. He is still an outsider but perhaps the most interesting of the outsiders.

Nathan McSweeney

McSweeney was dropped for Konstas last summer. While McSweeney didn’t have a great three matches before that, he did out-average Khawaja. Batting at three, he averaged 52 when he returned to play for South Australia. He has seen how difficult the step up to the Test scene is, but should he return, he will likely be better, and he won’t have to deal with Bumrah. At any rate, like Konstas, he might not be the most likely candidate for this summer, and his numbers suggest he is better suited away from the opening positions. Still, he is an option.

Campbell Kellaway

There are a few wild-card options and Kellaway is the most exciting of the lot. He has already played a number of impressive innings. He was very confident about Victoria’s chance in the Sheffield Shield this summer, so it would be a change to his summer plans. He will surely play for Australia one day, in white and coloured clothing, but this might be a summer too early. If he does excel in the Sheffield Shield, he could be a shout for the MCG and SCG Tests, if and only if the openers are really struggling. He could be one to play the role Konstas played last summer: the disrupter. A much-needed fresh face who is ready to challenge what the tourists are throwing at the Australian side.

 

He isn’t the only wildcard. Sam Whiteman, Henry Hunt, Kurtis Patterson, Josh Inglis, Tim Ward, Caleb Jewell and Jayden Goodwin are other names that have been floated.

 

Only one will get the spot and, the way sport works, it’s no guarantee that it’ll even be any of the names mentioned. Bring on the next few cracking months of cricket action.

 

 

 

More cricket stories from Lorenzo and other writers can be found at the Australian Cricket Society website.

 

 

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