Matt Renshaw linked to Adelaide Strikers after shock Queensland axing
Matt Renshaw has been axed from the Queensland Sheffield Shield side, with the former Test batsman remaining tight-lipped on his future despite being linked to a state rival.
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Axed batsman Matt Renshaw will fight for his four-day future in Queensland but may be lost to the Heat for next season’s Big Bash.
Queensland selectors have left Renshaw out of the team to face Tasmania at the Gabba on Friday following his poor first class scores and the return of Test star Marnus Labuschagne.
Rumours have swept the Big Bash that Renshaw is likely to join the Adelaide Strikers on a multi-year deal and would open the batting for them next season.
When asked on Monday whether he had been approached by the Strikers, Renshaw said “I cannot really talk about that at the moment, sorry.’’
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The possible move to the Strikers has triggered further speculation Renshaw may move to South Australia to play Sheffield Shield cricket but that appears far less likely.
“I have got two more years on my Shield contract at the Bulls and I want to get back in that team,” Renshaw said.
“Obviously it is a bloody strong Shield team but it is good having that bit of competition between the boys and hopefully I can score the runs if I do get another opportunity’’.
It is understood the Australian selectors will on Tuesday give Renshaw a chance to fight back by naming him in the CA XI team to face the English Lions in a four-day game in Hobart from Saturday.
While it is no shock to for Renshaw to be rated behind captain Usman Khawaja and Test opener Joe Burns in the Bulls, the most telling aspect of his demotion in the Bulls talent squeeze was that 20-year-old opener Bryce Street who has scores of 115, 53 and 58 this season has also chosen in front of him.
“I was not too surprised (at being dropped) really after knowing all the big boys were back in this game,’’ Renshaw said.
“I have been batting a long time this year and finding ways to score 20 and 30 and get out. I know if I can grind out and face 150 balls I will be close to scoring runs’’.
Renshaw recently struck form in the Big Bash for the Brisbane Heat but he has had two mystifyingly poor first class seasons.
Last summer the national selectors had him pencilled in for an Ashes tour berth before he faded from contention after making just 394 runs at 21 in the Sheffield Shield.
This year he has been unable to dig himself out of the rut, with 182 runs at 20 at a strike rate of just 40 runs per 100 balls.
When he drops back to club level with Toombul, Renshaw invariably makes a freewheeling century but his game at first class level currently lacks this fluency.
“I think I am a bit more relaxed in grade cricket,” he said.
“There is not the added pressure of Shield cricket. I am trying to use that in Shield cricket but it is very difficult to change your mindset when you are trying as hard as you can.’’
Though just 23 Renshaw has had a turbulent career featuring 11 Tests including a highest score of 184 against Pakistan in Sydney and now the pain of being dropped from the Shield team.
“I have had the highs and lows. I have been playing first class cricket for four years but it seems longer,” he said.
“But I would not change it. I enjoy the tests but I just have to make sure I score runs because that is my job as an opener.’’
Originally published as Matt Renshaw linked to Adelaide Strikers after shock Queensland axing