Australian great Mark Taylor has shut the door on David Warner‘s potential return to the Test arena and urged selectors to “bite the bullet” in regards to blooding young stars.
In a bizarre twist on the eve of the home summer, Warner put his hand up to play against India despite retiring on home soil less than 12 months ago.
While it’s unlikely George Bailey and company would take him up on the offer, the fact Warner is even suggesting it shows the lack of ready-made talent to open the batting.
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Steve Smith filled the role against the West Indies and New Zealand but has already opted to move back to his customary No.4 role, while the likes of Cameron Bancroft and Matthew Renshaw haven’t set the world on fire to start the domestic season.
Marcus Harris managed to score a century in Victoria’s first game, but many believe the veteran’s time at Test level has already been and gone.
The lack of viable options to partner Usman Khawaja at the top of Australia’s order has opened the door for teenager Sam Konstas, who scored twin tons for NSW in their Sheffield Shield opener and appears destined for big things.
Speaking exclusively to Wide World of Sports in the midst of the selection debate, Taylor conceded the Aussies needed to move in a new direction this summer instead of humouring another Warner swansong or going back to a player like Harris.
“I think the horse has bolted in that regard,” the former skipper said.
“Whether it’s this year or next year, Australian selectors are going to have to look to the future. Not just for Davey, but also for Usman, who is turning 38 in December.
“I think it certainly is time to bite the bullet and try some younger players. I think David putting his hand up to come back for this summer is only delaying the inevitable.
“At the end of the day, if it’s not this year against India it will be next year for The Ashes, the same thing will happen in 12 months time.
“Whether it’s Sam Konstas or whoever it might be … you could be rewarded with young guys who have less fear and less expectation and less thoughts.
“They just get out there and bat and I think that can be an advantage, so I think it’s time that we go down that path.”
Konstas only has a handful of first-class appearances to his name, but the 19-year-old has always been touted as a future Test cricketer.
Given the side’s recent success in the red-ball format, which included winning last year’s World Test Championship, the timing may be perfect to blood Konstas.
With that step up in competition would come an increase in scrutiny and even if it doesn’t end up being Konstas in the role, Taylor believes selectors may need to use the eye test as opposed to stacking up numbers.
“It might just mean the selectors have to look at these guys and believe in them, even if they are only averaging 35 in Shield cricket,” he said.
“Occasionally, you need to tell someone they are a better player than their statistics suggest and there’s no greater example of that than Marnus Labuschagne.
“He was picked averaging less than 35 for Queensland at the time and he’s now averaging in the 50s in Test cricket.
“Selectors need to look at these young guys and work out who they think is the best player and has the right sort of technique, armoury and temperament to make them a Test match opening batsman … give them an opportunity.”
Among the other options for a Test berth this summer – at least from a batting perspective – are South Australian duo Henry Hunt and Nathan McSweeney.
The latter is set to captain the Australia A side next month in a clear sign of his future credentials and while he isn’t a regular opener, Taylor believes it might not matter.
“His numbers look pretty good and he’s now captaining South Australia and captaining this Australia A side, so he’s very highly-regarded,” he said.
“He’s certainly one they could look at. The old-school days of picking two openers, three batsmen and an all-rounder is not totally gone, but they are certainly changing.
“You pick the best batsmen and find a spot for them, even if it means it might be a McSweeney and tell him he’s our next best batter and he’s got to open.
“Usman Khawaja did that, Justin Langer did that going back to his days – he was always a middle-order player in his career – so you might just need to tell a young player that we believe you’re good enough and this is where you’re going to bat.”
The debate around the make-up of the Test team is expected to continue for the next few weeks before the Border-Gavaskar Trophy kicks off in late-November and there’s still plenty of water to go under the bridge between now and then.
But whoever comes into the Test XI this summer will need to realise that their time may not last forever and Taylor sent that reminder to the likes of Konstas and McSweeney.
“There’s certainly got to be a little bit of leeway, but it’s more so around communication with younger players,” he said.
“Every player who has played the game has been dropped at some stage – even Don Bradman was dropped after two Tests and Ricky Ponting was dropped after a couple.
“It happens to most players, which is why I’m certainly not against a young player coming in and hopefully they score the runs and cement a spot – but it doesn’t always work out that way and it doesn’t mean you can’t come back another time.
“This idea that you can totally demoralise a player, I don’t agree with that. I tend to think yes, they might be disappointed, but you then go back and make some runs in any format of the game and come back for a second attempt.
“Bancroft, Renshaw and Harris have been the three players who have had a number of opportunities and none of them have nailed down that spot. That’s been the concern, so my gut feeling is to try a younger guy this time around.
“I think it’s getting to that stage where we’ve got to try someone at the top of the order, particularly alongside Usman, who has got plenty of experience.
“If we don’t do that, we’ll find that we might have to blood two young guys to open the batting next year against England.”