Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
Opener Jake Weatherald has been axed for the second Test against Bangladesh in Mackay, with Matt Renshaw being recalled to take his place.
The like-for-like change is the only adjustment to the 13-man Test squad, meaning No. 3 Marnus Labuschagne has escaped the axe.
Weatherald played six Test matches in a row since start of the last summer’s Ashes series but produced modest returns, scoring just one half-century and averaging 20.36.
The left-handed Weatherald scored 23 and a second ball duck in Australia’s shock loss to Bangladesh in Darwin last week.
Weatherald was a strong foil to Travis Head during the Ashes series but failed to get beyond the second dismissal of any innings.
Renshaw, 30, burst onto the Australian Test scene a decade ago as a grinding opening batter but has since evolved to become a formidable three-format option.
He played the last of his 14 Test matches in India in 2023, but batted in the middle order in the second innings after David Warner was ruled out with concussion.
Australian coach Andrew McDonald was forthright in Labuschagne’s need for runs following the Darwin loss.
“I think we saw some change in the way that he played, so that’s good,” McDonald said.
“So some of that work that he had done feels as though it stuck up under pressure, and that’s always a hard part too.
“You can try to make these changes, and then when you get put under extreme pressure in the middle, sometimes those changes don’t hold.
“So, it was good to see them hold up, but it is 31, he’s disappointed at that missed opportunity. He needs some big runs.”
Australia is one match into a run of potentially 21 Tests across the next 12 months.
