The latest debacle surrounding opening batters for Australia’s Test side well precedes Nathan McSweeney and this summer’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Ever since David Warner’s Test retirement in January against Pakistan, the jury has been out on who should partner Usman Khawaja up top.
Khawaja, who is also amid an uncharacteristic form slump, will welcome his third opening partner in less than a year on Boxing Day, with Steve Smith and McSweeney facing the new ball alongside him inside the last seven Tests.
Since Warner’s retirement, the aforementioned trio have been dry on runs as opening batters — and now, 19-year-old emerging star Sam Konstas looks almost certain to be the next guy Australia turn to, in a must-win match against India starting Thursday.
The New South Wales prodigy will be an Australian mainstay for the best part of the next 15 years, if not more. But in a perfect cricketing world, some would say that another season or two of dominating first-class cricket would be a better short-term approach.
So, what road has Australia taken to end up here — on the cusp of selecting what will be the country’s youngest Test opener in history?
BANCROFT’S BAFFLING OMISSION
The first major change to the top of the order came on January 9 this year, when Smith was officially picked to open the batting for the first time in his Test career.
This meant that Western Australian Cam Bancroft — despite scoring a mountain of runs in Australian domestic cricket for two straight summers — was overlooked.
Context around the right-hander’s snubbing is crucial. He wasn’t just the best option to replace Warner, but he was in the form of his life.
Bancroft was the top run-getter in the 2022/23 Sheffield Shield season, amassing 945 red-ball runs and four hundreds at an average of 59.06; numbers rarely seen these days after a full season of first-class cricket.
In the same season, he averaged 65.40 from eight matches against the white ball in the One Day Cup.
Come the start of the 2023/24 season, the hunt for Warner’s replacement was well and truly underway, with his retirement at the top level imminent.
Bancroft picked up where he left off last campaign, knocking 512 red-ball runs before Christmas with two hundreds and three fifties. His selection should have been as straightforward as any, but it wasn’t — Smith was given the keys to the car instead.
The message to overlook Bancroft’s numbers was damning, with the national side opting for an XI that adopted that adopted the country’s six best batters, not necessarily the best openers.
It’s worth noting that the decision to have Smith open allowed Australia to play both Cam Green and Mitchell Marsh in the same side for four Tests; a conundrum in itself given both all-rounders were in red-hot form at the time.
Smith’s sole successful innings as an opener came against the West Indies, when he carried his bat for 90 not out before averaging just 12.75 against New Zealand in a two-Test series. He then rescinded the role.
As for Green batting at four, that trial looks far from over once he returns from injury, given his epic 174 not out against the Kiwis in Wellington.
His six other innings in the position produced only one score above 25, but there is little concern over his ability to lock down his spot at four in the coming decade.
And while experience for Green in the prime number four position (as a result of Smith opening) certainly had its positives, Smith stepping away from the opening role meant the top order void would once again rear its ugly head.
Smith, who is undoubtedly the best red-ball player in the world over the last decade, was unable to transition from not opening, to opening. That fact should be noted by all.
Not because Smith isn’t a capable batter — he is this generation’s best, full stop — but because it is a seriously hard role to take on with no prior experience at professional level.
But alas, with the border Border-Gavaskar Trophy looming and the learnings of a failed opening experiment laid bare, a more traditional approach would be adopted come the first Test in Perth. Right?
LIGHTNING STRIKES TWICE
Seven months on from Australia’s last Test match, national selectors were on the cusp of selecting a new partner for Usman Khawaja.
All of Marcus Harris, Sam Konstas, Cam Bancroft and even fleetingly Matt Renshaw, were touted as traditional opening candidates; each with varying pros and cons.
The 2024/25 season of a once red-hot Bancroft started ice cold, with several low scores ruling him out of any fairytale come back to the Australian Test team this summer.
Harris’ Sheffield Shield season couldn’t have started any better, after knocking up 143 and 52 in the campaign opener against Queensland.
The 14-Test Victorian had faced India not once, but twice on home soil, averaging a tick under 35 against them. Importantly, he’d had experience against Jasprit Bumrah, who had dismissed Harris twice from his eight innings against him.
Unfortunately, Harris’ next five first-class innings featured scores between 16 and 36; leaving doubt in the minds of selectors as to whether they should try him again at the top level.
Enter, Nathan McSweeney.
The South Australian captain’s start to the summer with the bat was exceptional. Beyond a duck in the One Day Cup opener, his domestic scores before his Australia A selection read: 55, 127*, 37 and 72, before a divine 137 against Queensland in a one-day game.
His 39 and match-winning 88* against India A in Mackay prompted the selectors to seriously consider him for the vacant opening role, as his counterpart Harris made 17 and 36 in the same tour game.
Konstas, who set the first-class scene alight with twin hundreds for NSW in their red-ball season opener, had simmered in his next few outings — and after making 0 and 16 in Mackay, was effectively ruled out of Test contention.
The duo of Harris and McSweeney then opened together in one last match before the Australian Test squad would be revealed, in what was the definition of a bat-off.
The MCG produced a fiery wicket for the India A game, with McSweeney falling for 14 in the first innings and Harris making a gritty 74 in tough conditions.
The race was close. McSweeney, the most in-form player on the domestic scene, had never opened professionally before this match. His score of 25 in the second innings didn’t make a compelling case to selectors. (new par)
But as we now know, selectors were willing to take a punt.
Harris was left out of Test calculations after a duck in the second innings of the match, and left wondering what could have been.
Nathan McSweeney was officially Smith’s replacement, with selectors defying history with traditional openers for a second straight summer.
‘I DON’T THINK ANYONE’S BEEN GIVEN A HARDER CHALLENGE’
Backed in to successfully conquer a role he’s never taken on before, the expectations of McSweeney were notable amid the circumstances.
But it wasn’t just the unknown for McSweeney that made his task so difficult; it was Bumrah — arguably the greatest pace bowler of the modern era.
Scores of 10 and 0 in the first Test in Perth made for a tough start in the big time; especially in the second innings when an unplayable ball smashed into his pads. He was dismissed LBW in both innings by Bumrah.
In Adelaide under lights, McSweeney was very commendable. Facing Bumrah and co with a brand-new pink ball, he was able to survive the night session and work off the new ball shine to protect his middle order, alongside the under-fire Marnus Labuschagne.
The next morning on Day 2, it was Bumrah who would dismiss him again — this time caught behind.
Ten not out in the minuscule second innings run chase was good for the confidence heading into Brisbane. But unfortunately, it would come undone again as Bumrah removed him for the fourth time in five innings. He finished his third Test of the series with scores of nine and four.
Above reads a mind-blowing statistic revolving around McSweeney’s ‘xAverage’ across his first three Test matches, stating that his start to life as an international player has been as hard as anyone since data on the stat was first recorded in 2006.
The metrics are largely led by Bumrah, which state that McSweeney is expected to be dismissed 19 balls (rounding up) into his innings; a damningly low figure for an opener.
Speaking to foxsports.com.au, former England captain Michael Vaughan was sympathetic for McSweeney amid a start to his career in some ways incomparable to anyone for the best part of two decades.
“I feel for the kid, because of all the people that I’ve seen come into Test cricket over the last 10 years, I don’t think anyone’s been given a harder challenge,” Vaughan said.
“To face Bumrah in the conditions that he’s had to face now, the pink ball under lights in his second game, in Perth it did all sorts and in Brisbane the ball was moving around.
“I thought they’d go with McSweeney for Melbourne, and if he failed again, they’d bring Sam (Konstas) in for his home Test at the SCG.
“I don’t think in the long run it’s going to be a bad thing for McSweeney. I think he will end up being an Australian Test cricketer, but I don’t think he’ll be up the top of the order; I think it’ll be down at four or five.
“If I was McSweeney, next time I get the chance to wear the baggy green, I’d want him to be in the position that he’s played all his life.”
McSweeney is not the only Australian in the firing line. Bumrah has had the wood over every Australian player this series, bar Travis Head, and to a lesser extent, Alex Carey.
He averages a frightening 10.90 with 21 wickets in three Tests, which in retrospect, shows just how much was asked of McSweeney heading into this role.
His opening partner Usman Khawaja is arguably facing his toughest challenge yet trying to combat the right-arm seamer, which to some, makes the South Australian’s dropping for Boxing Day that extra bit harsher.
“I do think that Usman needs runs in the next two games; I don’t think he can be anywhere near a shoe-in to go to Sri Lanka and the West Indies if he doesn’t score runs in this series, because eventually you have to look to the future,” Vaughan continued.
“I feel for Nathan, I think he’ll be back — but I totally understand why Australia made this move.”
The selectors look set to hold on to Usman at the top of the order until the end of the series, and as he fights to get back into form, another will be fighting to prove selectors right for instilling the ultimate faith in him.
‘WHAT’S THE WORST THAT COULD HAPPEN?’
Barring a major selection curveball, Sam Konstas will make his Test debut against India on Boxing Day after being added to Australia’s 15-man squad for the match.
In some ways, he’s already got the upper hand over their attack — having plundered a whirlwind 107 off 97 balls for the Prime Minister’s XI against the touring Indian party in Canberra on December 1.
Konstas faced the best first-class bowlers India had to offer at Manuka Oval, and even smacked Test players such as Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep and Harshit Rana — all of which have featured in the top side for the visitors this summer.
The one bowler who didn’t line up that day? Jasprit Bumrah.
Konstas oozes a confidence that many 19-year-olds dream of. And if he is in fact phased by the challenge that awaits him in Bumrah, he’s doing a very good job of hiding it.
“Bumrah has had a number of the Australian batter … but I think in Sam Konstas, it’s very clear that he’s going to be a star of the future,” Vaughan explained to foxsports.com.au.
“I’ve never been a big believer in: ‘What damage can be done to a 19-year-old?’ They’re all just youthful, and all they ever think about is positivity, there’s no baggage.
His record-breaking Big Bash fifty on debut last week for the Sydney Thunder was perhaps the cherry on top of what has been an incredible breakout summer for the teenager, bringing up the milestone off just 20 deliveries.
Vaughan believes that given the minimal input from Khawaja and McSweeney this series, it can’t get much worse for Australia — so why not blood a potential generational talent now that an opportunity has arisen?
“It’s quite exciting when you’ve got a young kid who can clearly play, so what’s the worst thing that can happen — he gets not many runs? Well, that’s been happening anyway!” exclaimed Vaughan.
“If he goes out and gets an innings under his belt against Bumrah’s quality, then you start talking a seriously high-class player. From a very young age, he’s scored hundreds and he knows how to score hundreds.”
Only reserve batter Josh Inglis can possibly stand between Konstas and baggy green number 468; but given Australia’s recent of picking openers who have never opened, that seems highly unlikely to happen a third time around agrees Vaughan.
“They can’t go three on the trot from the middle order to the top; they’ve got to go with someone who opens the batting,” he said.
The stakes are high, and the stage is set for the Sutherland cricket club prodigy.
How quickly he hits the ground running on Boxing Day remains to be seen, but one way or another, Australia is set to unleash a batting talent of his kind for the first time in decades on Thursday.
