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Cameron Bancroft maintains that a specialist opener
would be the most suitable candidate to succeed the retiring David Warner, as
he feels senior leadership is essential in the challenging position.
For the third Test this week against Pakistan at the
SCG, Australia has selected a 13-man roster that remains unaltered, but it’s
getting close to being time to find Warner’s replacement as he says goodbye to
the Test arena.
Bancroft is still among the front-runners, and
selectors will decide before the January 17 Adelaide Test matchup with the West
Indies.
Although Matt Renshaw and Marcus Harris are also
deserving candidates for the position, head coach Andrew McDonald hasn’t ruled
out starting with a non-specialist.
In order to allow Cameron Green to take Warner’s place
on Saturday, McDonald left the door open. In theory, another batter might move
to the top to make room for Green’s return.
However, Bancroft was certain that a specialist opener
would have an easier time doing the work.
“Yeah, absolutely,” he told AAP. “I’ve
opened the batting in Shield cricket for over 10 years. It’s not an easy place
to bat. It comes with challenges, and my whole career I’ve problem-solved
trying to find ways to flourish in those sort of circumstances.
“Some players have switched and gone and opened
the batting and done really well. But not everyone puts their hand up to go and
open the batting.
“I feel like it probably is a specialist position
and it’s certainly a really challenging one. But a very rewarding one as
well.”
Bancroft’s remarks follow similar points made this
week by Mike Hussey, Ricky Ponting, and Justin Langer.
In the event that Australia chooses to start with a
specialist, Bancroft has presented the best argument of any candidate thus far.
With 945 runs at an average of 59.06 in the previous
summer’s Sheffield Shield, he was the top run scorer. With 512 runs at 56.88
this season, he leads the statistics once more.
“I’ve had some conversations [with selectors]
over the last 12 months or so and asked some questions about what I can do to
improve,” Bancroft said. “I’m always looking to improve and get
better. I wanted that feedback from them.
“But I guess it always comes down to scoring
runs, so I’ve just tried to go out and do the best I can no matter what format
of the game that I’ve been playing.”