After Jake Weatherald’s subpar results in the first Test, Cricket Australia’s selectors have made the much-anticipated decision to remove him from the squad for the second Test against Bangladesh.
Instead, Matt Renshaw has been called up for the forthcoming encounter. After adjusting his style to reduce the lbw and bowled dismissals that plagued him against England, Weatherald scored 23 and 0 in his home Test, raising his career average to 20.36 after 12 innings.
After several successful opening stands with Travis Head during Australia’s 4-1 Ashes series victory over England, the selectors awarded Weatherald a national contract in April. However, he was dropped after only one more Test.
Jake Weatherald On Weatherald
“Yeah, there was some change to Jake in terms of where he lined up and his movement patterns. It is always hard to critique small sample sizes on whether it holds up (at the international level),” coach Andrew McDonald said while speaking to the media.
“He dragged one on and drove at one in the first innings and was dismissed; it is probably harder with that smaller sample size to say, ‘Yep, that is going to hold up under pressure,” McDonald added.
Josh Inglis, a 31-year-old who was part of the 13-man squad that traveled to Darwin, is still another surprise choice to partner Travis Head at the top. Selectors have seen the five-Test right-hander as a possible top-order alternative despite the fact that he has batted at No. 5 or below in the Sheffield Shield.
Matt Renshaw Called Up
Inglis scored 40 and an undefeated 125 while opening for the Cricket Australia XI against the Lions in November. The more traditional option would be Renshaw, who has already struck two first-class hundreds at the venue in northern Queensland, which is staging its first Test. The 30-year-old batted in the middle order during his most recent Test match, which took place in Delhi three years ago.