Australian selector Mark Waugh has indicated that opener Matt Renshaw is likely to be spared the axe for the first Test at the Gabba next week, despite his bleak pre-Ashes form continuing in Brisbane on Monday.
The 21-year-old was installed as David Warner's opening partner after the Australian team's debacle against South Africa in Hobart last November but while it was the most timely of hundreds that won him a call-up a year ago he has found runs very hard to come by in the lead-up to the England series.
In five Sheffield Shield innings he has yet to pass 19, leading to speculation he could be omitted when the selection panel convenes in Brisbane on Wednesday.
However, at the launch of Triple M radio's coverage of the Ashes in Sydney on Monday, Waugh suggested Renshaw was all but safe, saying selectors had been more uncertain about the positions of the No.6 batsman and the wicketkeeper, approaching the first Test.
Peter Nevill is expected to win a recall and get the nod as the gloveman at the Gabba and while the remaining spot in the middle order remained yet to be finalised on the first day of a new Shield round Waugh's comments appeared a reassuring sign for Renshaw.
Asked whether he was under pressure to retain his place in the side, Waugh said: "I'm not saying that but I'm saying it would have been nice to see him score a few more runs in the season so far. His record for Australia is very good, his average is about 37 and he's batted in some tough conditions in India and played well and played well last summer. Like everybody, he would have liked more runs so far in the season we've had here but we know what he can do.
"He's obviously got a good chance of playing but [it's] probably more six or seven where there is probably a few more options in those two spots."
It would be a controversial move to leave out Renshaw despite his lean run for Queensland. He introduced himself on the international stage last summer as an ideal foil for an attacking Warner.
His state captain Usman Khawaja has already suggested this season that selectors were contributing to instability by chopping and changing the team's line-up.
Yet Renshaw's immediate Test future has been caught up in the deliberately pressured environment that has been created with other spots up for grabs in Steve Smith's side. The Test captain himself said he wasn't sure about Renshaw's spot in the side when asked about him last week and Justin Langer, the Western Australia coach, weighed in parochially on the weekend by saying he was under pressure from Warriors batsmen Shaun Marsh and Cameron Bancroft.
"At the end of the day you're playing for Australia and I don't think there's any cricketer who hasn't been under pressure at some stage," Waugh said.
"Personally I got dropped after eight or nine Tests and I'm not saying at all that's going to happen to Matt Renshaw but it's just part of being a top-level cricketer. If you're a batsman and you don't score runs then people are going to talk about it. If you're a bowler and you don't take wickets people talk about that as well; that's just the nature of the game. And it's how you handle it.
"You can't score runs every game every year - it's probably impossible??? the really great players possibly, but other players, you're going to go through these low periods, so Matt has just got to handle that and I'm sure he's good enough to do the job."
As for No.6, selectors have wrestled with whether to pick a specialist batsman or one who can offer Smith a fifth bowling option.
"You'd love an all-rounder at six who bats and bowls, who can score a hundred and take five wickets like Ben Stokes," Waugh said.
"There's no real outstanding all-rounder around at the moment. Marcus Stoinis is probably the closest to a batsman who could probably get you three or four wickets. The other guys are batsmen who bowl. That's what we've got in front of us. So that's what we've got to pick from."
