Hilton Cartwright pair throws Ashes No.6 race wide open as challengers put runs on the board

AUSTRALIA’S hunt for an Ashes No.6 might be back to square one after clear favourite Hilton Cartwright failed twice with the bat against the NSW Test attack.

Hilton Cartwright.

AUSTRALIA’S hunt for an Ashes No.6 might be back to square one after clear favourite Hilton Cartwright made a pair against the Test attack.

Cartwright had two chances against NSW to slam the door shut on his rivals, but his double failure at Hurstville Oval has made him vulnerable and potentially in need of a big performance in Western Australia’s next Shield match if he’s to cement his place at the Gabba.

Selectors have said they will pick their Test squad midway through the next Shield round that starts on Monday – and based on the erratic few days which have just played out, they may not be making any final decisions until the eleventh hour.

Josh Hazlewood traps Hilton Cartwright in front.

Peter Nevill looks virtually home and hosed as the Test wicketkeeper, but there are huge question marks over the No.6 position in particular, and also Matt Renshaw as David Warner’s opening partner.

Cartwright averages 50 in Shield cricket and 63 last season, but Australian selectors learnt a hard lesson last summer with Nic Maddinson about what can happen when you pick a talent that’s not in the best of form.

A 63 against the pink ball in round one helps his cause, but making two ducks against Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc hurts just two weeks out from the first Test.

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And as Cartwright’s foothold slipped, the stocks of teammates Cameron Bancroft (76 not out and 86) and Shaun Marsh (91) both raised considerably.

Glenn Maxwell - an incumbent from the last Test in Chittagong can’t be ignored with two half centuries for Victoria at the MCG, while Darren Lehmann’s son Jake has rocketed into the conversation with a century and 93 in the same match for South Australia.

Bancroft has been a great white hope for selectors for a number of seasons now, and after two years of struggling when the spotlight has been on him, he’s finally fired when it matters most.

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The 24-year-old is a certified wildcard – capable of giving selectors a genuine option at both the top of the order and at No.6, although it’s understood he wouldn’t be in the wicketkeeping conversation for an Ashes Test.

All the talk from the Australian camp up until recently suggested that nine positions in the starting XI were locked away, with No.6 and the keeper the only vacancies.

That attitude suggests 20-year-old opener Renshaw will get a chance to start the series, however, like Cartwright, Renshaw is suddenly a man who desperately needs runs in the next Shield match, if only for his own confidence.

Renshaw made scores of 1 and a scratchy 19 off 109 against Tasmania, and the wolves are at the door.

Shaun Marsh (left) and Cameron Bancroft both put their hands up for selection.

Many may feel replacing Renshaw with 34-year-old Shaun Marsh is a step backwards, particularly given the Queensland left-hander was the poster boy for a positive move towards younger talent when the wheels fell off Australian cricket midway through last summer.

However, in Bancroft, selectors have a legitimate young star to at least keep the heat on Renshaw to lift and lift fast.

Bancroft’s first innings set a new Sheffield Shield record, as the first wicketkeeper in the history of the competition to carry his bat.

In the second dig he was on track for his 11th Test ton until Pat Cummins trapped him plumb lbw walking too far across his stumps.

Glenn Maxwell celebrates his half century.

Still, the fact Bancroft spent the entire match with the keeping pads on made it a marathon effort that won’t go unnoticed.

Marsh doesn’t necessarily need big runs to win his place – selectors already know what he can do.

His place in the Ashes will come down to selector philosophy and whether they’re comfortable recalling a player in his mid-30s who wasn’t picked for the recent tour of Bangladesh and had seemingly been put out to pasture.

Marsh remains an ever-present threat though, with state coach Justin Langer describing his outstanding form through the one-day cup and early Shield rounds as the best of his career.

Originally published as Hilton Cartwright pair throws Ashes No.6 race wide open as challengers put runs on the board