Eight years on, Matt Renshaw gets his best chance to own Australia’s opening spot

He will open alongside Travis Head, returning to a role he last held for Australia eight years ago. The left-hander replaces Jake Weatherald in the XI, another turn in a career that has taken him from teenage prodigy to Test exile, middle-order batter and now, once again, an Australia opener.

Renshaw was first called into Australia's Test squad in November 2016 at just 20 after 12 first-class matches, having already given the selectors plenty to like. He scored 738 runs at 43.41 in his breakout 2015-16 Sheffield Shield season and, at 19, became Queensland's youngest player to score a Shield century when he made 170 against New South Wales in Mackay, coincidentally the same venue where he will make his Test return.

Also Read: Older and wiser, Matt Renshaw deserves a shot at resurrecting his Test career

His start in Test cricket suggested he could occupy the opening position for years. Renshaw scored 71 in his second innings against Pakistan in Brisbane and followed it with 184 against the same opposition at the SCG. In his first nine innings, he had three fifties, two scores in the forties and one near double-hundred, becoming the first Australian to reach 500 Test runs before turning 21.

But the early promise did not immediately translate into a long-term place. A lean start to the 2017-18 Sheffield Shield season, in which he failed to cross 20 in his first nine innings, saw him left out of the side for the Ashes, with Cameron Bancroft preferred after making 76*, 86 and 228* in the same period.

Renshaw returned to the Test side during Australia's 2018 tour of South Africa, replacing the suspended Bancroft. He made eight in his only innings, though, and it would be almost five years before he played another Test.

The years that followed took Renshaw away from the role in which he had first made his name. During the Covid era, he moved into Queensland's middle order, having not scored a first-class hundred since 2018. He found some success there, and when Australia came calling again in 2023, it was as a middle-order batter.

He was viewed as a useful option against spin, particularly after his career had stalled on the subcontinent, but the comeback was brief. Renshaw made 5* against South Africa in Sydney and then scored 0, 2 and 2 in the first two Tests in India.

By then, he was already moving back towards the top of the order for Queensland. He scored two hundreds against New Zealand A in early 2023, followed by a 135 against Victoria in Mackay and another century for the Prime Minister's XI against Pakistan. Yet the runs did not come consistently enough when it mattered most. He averaged 24.93 in the 2023-24 Shield season and 29.17 in 2024-25, leaving him behind other contenders when Australia began looking for David Warner's replacement.

Australia have announced their XI for the second Test against Bangladesh, with Matt Renshaw returning to the side for the first time since February 2023 🇦🇺#AUSvBAN #Cricket pic.twitter.com/0rj7LIi7Yr

Then came the season that put Renshaw back in the conversation. He made three Shield hundreds and averaged 49.90, earning a return to Australia's white-ball sides. His role remained largely in the middle order, but an unbeaten 89 in the T20I series against Bangladesh added to the sense that he was becoming a more rounded international cricketer.

There had been questions about his technique earlier in his career. In 2017, former Australia opener Chris Rogers pointed to Renshaw's tendency to fall over and his front foot moving across, issues that had crept into his batting as he struggled for consistency.

Almost a decade later, teammate Alex Carey sees a different player. "Renners has definitely matured as a cricketer," he said. "He has got the balance between attack and defence and opens the batting for Queensland in Sheffield Shield cricket. There has been a lot made about the wickets produced in the last couple of years, so for him to score three hundreds last season [shows] he has got the game for all conditions."

Australia's search for a long-term opener has only added to Renshaw's latest opportunity. Steve Smith, Nathan McSweeney, Sam Konstas, Marnus Labuschagne and Weatherald have all been tried at the top since Warner's retirement, but none has managed to make the position his own. None averaged over 30 as an opener, and none made a century.

Weatherald appeared to have earned the latest opportunity after averaging 50.33 in the 2024-25 Sheffield Shield season, a return that also earned him a Cricket Australia contract. He was expected to be Australia's Ashes opener next year, but scores of 23 and 0 in the first Test against Bangladesh, which Australia lost by nine wickets, brought another change.

Renshaw had been here before. His first Test call-up came after Australia's innings defeat to South Africa in Hobart prompted a major reshuffle in 2016; his latest has followed another shock defeat, after taking the long road back. After years of waiting, another opportunity has arrived, perhaps his best chance yet to turn a once promising start into something lasting.

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