“Warner and Usman Closer to the end of their Careers,” Australian National Selector George Bailey’s Big Indication: As preparations for the upcoming Ashes series get underway, Cricket Australia’s top selector George Bailey has provided the clearest hint yet that David Warner is unlikely to make it to the Australian squad.
With only one century in the previous three years, Warner has recently struggled with his form and is facing mounting pressure to stay at the top of the order in Australia’s Test line-up.
Marcus Harris was reinstated to the national contract list for Australia today with “an eye to the future,” and selection chief George Bailey hinted that Harris would eventually replace David Warner as Australia’s regular Test opener.
Harris, who last appeared in a Test in January 2022, spent last summer serving as the Australian Test team’s backup batter until Matthew Renshaw was chosen for the SCG Test, and Harris was later left out of the team that visited India.
Bailey told to the reporter “Looking ahead, back in England, another home summer and then some Tests in New Zealand, we certainly rate Harry’s ability in those conditions. Really good, strong record in England as well. Certainly, one of our criteria, when we’re doing the contracts, is past performance, but certainly, another one is an eye to the future as well. So that perhaps gives an indication of where we hold Harry.”
He hit hard on David Warner and likes and said “Dave, like any player, is at the mercy of selection. The Ashes is a huge series, and we’ll be looking to pick our best team. We’re going to have to have our best team playing incredibly well.”
While Harris has taken the pole spot, Bailey knows Australia may soon need two new openers with incumbents Usman Khawaja and David Warner both turning 37 before the year is out.
“Not being rude towards Usman or Davey, but there’s no doubt those two are closer to the end than the start of their careers, so we’re going to need some depth,” Bailey said.
“We’re going to need all three of those guys (Bancroft, Handscomb, Renshaw) performing really, really well for us. And hopefully, they make our decisions incredibly challenging over the next little while,” he concluded.
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