Marcus Harris faces more pressure to retain his spot in Australia’s Test side if David Warner is unable to line up in the Adelaide Test this week, according to Mark Taylor.
Warner left the Brisbane Test with severely bruised ribs after copping a short delivery from Ben Stokes on Day 2, and faces a race against time to be fit for the second Test with a short turnaround.
If Warner does miss the Adelaide Test, Taylor said Australia could see both Harris and Warner’s replacement fighting for one spot in the side for the third Test and beyond.
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“In a way [Warner’s absence] probably puts a bit more pressure on Marcus Harris,” Taylor told Wide World of Sports’ Outside The Rope.
“He’s got to make some runs. You suspect if Warner doesn’t play – it’s an ‘if’ at this stage – it’s almost a bat-off. Warner will come back in for Boxing Day for sure. Therefore, Marcus Harris will need to make some runs to keep Usman Khawaja at bay.
“If Usman plays and gets runs, and Harris’s woes continue … you can see Australia will make that choice and probably go for Khawaja for the Boxing Day Test.”
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Despite a solid summer in domestic cricket, Khawaja’s case was hurt by a pair of failures for Australia A against the England Lions last week.
The veteran left-hander has not featured in Australia’s Test side since the 2019 Ashes, but boasts an average of 96.80 in seven innings as an opener for Australia.
He has two centuries as a Test opener, with one coming against South Africa in 2016 in Adelaide where he was ironically promoted up the order due to an injury to Warner.
“That was his best [innings] in Test cricket for mine,” Taylor said. “That pink ball game, [against] a very good bowling attack that South Africa had … he was almost thrust into opening the batting because Warner was off the field.
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“Khawaja gets pushed straight up and makes 140-odd and was man of the match in the game.”
The second Test will be a day-night contest at the Adelaide Oval and will get under way on Thursday, December 16.
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