It’s the one question on the lips of cricket fans around Australia right now: Who replaces the retiring David Warner as Test opener?
Warner played his 112th and final Test against Pakistan at the SCG in recent days and now a new man must face the new ball alongside opening partner Usman Khawaja.
Several names could come into the side to face the West Indies in Adelaide with Cameron Bancroft, Marcus Harris and Matt Renshaw all having genuine claims.
Alternatively, and perhaps even more likely, Australia could fill the vacant opening slot with a middle-order batsman like Steve Smith to make room for all-rounder Cameron Green in the XI.
With the question dominating cricket talk, several names made their picks to replace Warner on the SEN network.
Check them out below!
Gerard Whateley
Steve Smith
“Once he (Smith) has told the selectors and the coach behind closed doors that, not only is he willing to do it but he would really like to open, I feel like that’s the solution,” Whateley told SEN Mornings.
“There’s no question that he could do it, and he could probably do it better than anybody else in the lineup.”
Adam Collins
Steve Smith
“The biggest intervention has been that Steve Smith himself said after play on night three of the Sydney Test match that he's keen to do it,” Collins told SEN 1170.
“That was an unusual opinion that I was advancing a couple of months ago, maybe he would be a good fit to give him one more challenge.
“I didn't for a second think that Smith himself would come to it. I thought that he'd be far more set in his ways … but he’s proven me wrong there.”
Darren Lehmann
Matt Renshaw
“I’d love him (Smith) to stay at four. I love Marnus (Labuschagne), Smith, (Travis) Head, (Mitch) Marsh and (Alex) Carey from three to seven,” Lehmann told SEN Sportsday NSW.
“Being from Queensland I’d like to see Renshaw.
“But if they go on sheer stats and performance and give state cricket the credit it deserves then it’s probably got to be Bancroft, doesn’t it? He’s played so well in all formats for the last few years.”
Matthew Hayden
Matt Renshaw
“Matt Renshaw is fresh off 100 against the touring (Pakistan) team, he has been putting his hand up as well,” Hayden told SEN Sportsday.
“He's been a player similar to me that's kind of been in and been out, he's just sort of had to hang in there. Is he an opener? Is he a middle-order (batsman)?
“It's a really important question who is going to be that one-two combination with Khawaja initially and then moving away from Khawaja into a new era of a one, two and three combination.”
Adam White
Marcus Harris
“Marcus Harris has been the incumbent for the last two years… he’s always been there waiting in the wings,” White told SEN.
“I don’t think Harris has done enough wrong to just all of a sudden fall off the queue.
“If I’m George Bailey, I’m picking up the phone to Marcus Harris and I’m saying… ‘prove to us and prove to yourself that you are our best bet as the opening batsman to replace David Warner. You’ve got four Test matches’.”
Simon Katich
Steve Smith
“When you look at Steve Smith’s Test career and his numbers, he’s thrived at number three and four… averaging over 60 in both spots,” Katich said on SEN Breakfast.
“If Steve Smith sees this as a challenge that he wants to take on, I’ve got no problem with that.”
Ryan Harris
Cameron Bancroft
“I can’t see it being Smith personally, I know he wants it and could do it really well,” Harris told SEN.
“But I wouldn’t put him up. I think Bancroft is probably the one. He has put back-to-back-to-back years together in the Sheffield Shield.
“To me, it would be him for this series.”
Ian Healy
Steve Smith
“Great players tighten up,” Healy told SENQ Breakfast.
“I think Steven Smith is a bit tight at the moment, it’ll be really refreshing for him.”
Damien Fleming
Marnus Labuschagne
“Of the batsmen batting in the top six… the easiest change would be Marnus Labuschagne at number three,” Fleming told SEN Cricket.
“We’ve seen David Boon and Justin Langer types just make that one step up.
“I think he’s certainly got the technique and the temperament to do it, but he’s already knocked it back.”
VERDICT
Steve Smith – 4
Matt Renshaw – 2
Cameron Bancroft – 1
Marcus Harris – 1
Marnus Labuschagne – 1
