5 players who can replace David Warner as opener in Tests for Australia ft. Will Pucovski
After a typically breezy and entertaining innings in a successful chase against Pakistan, David Warner walked into the sunset of his Test career at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on Saturday, January 6.
Warner achieved the rare distinction of making his Australia debut without prior first-class experience when he was selected for the T20Is against South Africa in 2009. The pocket dynamite went on to forge a successful career in whites though, as he finished with 8,786 runs at an average of 44.59 with 37 fifties and 26 centuries to his name.
While Australia completed a 3-0 whitewash of Pakistan, the West Indies await next. The reigning world Test champions will face Kraigg Brathwaite and company for a two-match Test series commencing in Adelaide on January 17 with a day-night affair also scheduled for Brisbane.
The jury is out as to who will take Warner's place at the top of the order alongside Usman Khawaja. Warner himself has presented a couple of names although it won't be a straightforward call to replace the man who ends as Australia's most prolific opener in the format.
Here, we explore five options that the selectors could consider as Warner's replacement for the West Indies series:
#1 Cameron Bancroft
The most obvious candidate on the back of runs in the Sheffield Shield for Western Australia is Cameron Bancroft. Having played the last of his 10 Tests to date back in the 2019 Ashes, the right-handed batter is a lot, unlike Warner in the sense that he isn't necessarily someone who will tear into bowlers from the outset.
But what he does have is a penchant for occupying the crease and scoring big hundreds - he has 25 of them in first-class cricket. He currently tops the charts in the ongoing Shield season that is set to resume after the Big Bash League (BBL) with 512 runs at an average of 56.88 and was the leading run-getter in the previous season too with 945 runs at an average of 59.06 paving the way for Western Australia's glory.
He is also a regular in the English County Championship and with an improved game and assurance against spin, is arguably at the prime of his career. There couldn't possibly be a better time for Bancroft to wear the baggy green again and he could certainly be picked for the West Indies Tests.
#2 Matt Renshaw
Once Warner's opening partner when he made his Test debut, Matt Renshaw was mighty impressive on some dust bowls when Australia toured India in 2017. That's where the southpaw's strengths lie too - his nimble footwork and ability to play spin make him an enticing option to revert to with an eye on sub-continental endeavors.
While Renshaw's average in the ongoing Shield season stands at 31.63, he did compile an unbeaten 136 against the touring Pakistanis for the Prime Minister's XI. His conversion rate is another factor that makes him a tempting option - 21 of his 40 fifty-plus scores in first-class cricket have resulted in centuries.
While he has been around for a while, Renshaw is only 27. There is a sizeable future to tap into with his best years still looming and he certainly presents himself as an enterprising option to take Warner's place in Australia's Test side.
#3 Marcus Harris
Another name that has been doing the rounds is Victoria's Marcus Harris. The left-handed opener looked compact and assured against a relentless Indian bowling attack in his first series in 2018-19 but his career hasn't taken off since then. He was the first-choice opener alongside Warner during the 2021-22 Ashes before Khawaja racked up runs for fun to make that spot his own.
A third coming could be on the cards for Harris although his averages in the Shield in the last two seasons - 37.56 and 31.33, respectively - leave a bit more to be desired. What favors him though is that he has often been the reserve opener in the side having traveled to Pakistan in 2022 and England for the Ashes this year.
If that remains the pecking order, Harris should walk out to open the innings alongside Khawaja in Adelaide. But you'd think that a couple of big scores at home is what he'd need immediately to own that spot for the foreseeable future given that he has been handed a lifeline in the past without grabbing it with both hands.
#4 Will Pucovski
Prodigious and touted for big things, Will Pucovski is a serial run-scorer in domestic cricket. The Victorian's first-class average of 43.94 is better than most of his competitors and at 25, you'd think the sky is the limit for him.
Sadly, his career has been ridden with rotten luck with multiple concussions often sidelining him from regular game time. He showed what the hype around him was all about against a strong Indian attack on debut three years ago as he stroked his way to 62 in the first innings but a shoulder dislocation ruled him out of action again.
The good thing is that Pucovski is back playing regularly and has been opening in the Sheffield Shield for Victoria. The catch though? An average of 21 with a lone half-century to his credit.
Should Australia's selectors turn to him immediately for the West Indies Tests, it would be a call purely based on his ability and not recent form. Whether they take that gamble or not considering it's Warner they're looking to replace is something that remains to be seen.
But if Pucovski gets into the runs again once the Shield season resumes, a recall may not be far away in any case.
#5 Cameron Green
A generational talent who has created ripples in the cricketing world, Cameron Green has found himself benched from Australia's last four Tests owing to Mitchell Marsh's purple patch. While his Test average of 33.59 doesn't do justice to his abilities, he remains an ever-improving player with an incredibly high ceiling.
Green isn't averse to opening the batting having donned that role in white-ball cricket. Opening the innings in Tests is a different kettle of fish altogether but given that he can occupy the crease and blunt the new ball if required while also attacking his way like Warner does, it is a left-field choice that Australia could just turn to.
After all, they wouldn't want to keep him on the bench for too long either and draft him back into the XI to ensure he gets maximum game time at this level and develops quickly into the player the world expects him to be.
It will be a massive punt. But it isn't the most far-fetched idea either.
Who among these players do you think should replace David Warner as Australia's opener in Tests? Have your say in the comments section below!