The three realistic options Australian selectors should consider for a vacant opening position

SEN Crickets Adam White believes Australian selectors have three realistic options for the vacancy at the top of the Test order.

With Cameron Green injured for the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy and Steve Smith returning to number four, the selectors are looking for a batsman to partner Usman Khawaja at the top of the order.

Names like Marcus Harris, Cameron Bancroft and Sam Konstas have been mentioned as notable opening options, but White believes there is another name the country can look to.

While he has Harris as his pick of the openers, White believes the next best option at the top could be New South Wales opener Nic Maddinson.

Maddinson, 32, opened for Victoria alongside Harris in recent campaigns but has since returned to his home state.

White thinks the left-hander fits the player choice the players might be looking for.

“I think they have three options,” White said SEN Sports Day.

“One is Marcus Harris, I think, or Nic Maddinson opening the batting.

“Marcus Harris is the one who is in good shape to start this year. He has been there before and has proven that he can score runs against India before.

“Then there’s Nic Maddinson because he fits the prototype in the sense that he can bowl fast and score fast – which is one of the things they wanted.

“He has also played for Australia before and if you look at what he has done for Victoria over the last three or four years, he has regularly scored big points at Sheffield Shield level.”

The other, more radical option that White believes the selectors should consider is keeping Marnus Labuschagne open, giving Australia A captain Nathan McSweeney the chance to move into number three.

White considers McSweeney to be the best batsman in Australia not currently in the Test side, with the main thing going against him that he is not at the top of the list for his state.

“The other option is for Marnus Labuschagne to open the batting and for Nathan McSweeney to come in and bat at number three,” White said.

“I think he is the best batsman not in the Australian team at the moment, but it would require a reshuffling of the order because we know Steve Smith is going to bat at four and we know Travis Head is going to bat at five. .

“I think these are the three most realistic options at the moment.

“But the selectors are not selecting the team today. They have yet to start the Australia A series…they can sort it out themselves, I would pick the one that does well.

“If no one is doing it right, you look at the oeuvre over a certain period. That’s why I think they’ll probably go back to Harris.”

Australia A will take on India A in a two-match series in the coming weeks, with matches taking place in Mackay and Melbourne.