Harris has a really strong record in England: Chief selector provides hint on Australia’s next Test opener

New Delhi, April 6 : Cricket Australia chief selector George Bailey has hinted that Marcus Harris is in line to be David Warners successor and will become Australias long-term Test opener.

Harris, who last played a Test in January 2022, spent last summer as the spare batter with the Australian Test squad before being overlooked in favour of Matthew Renshaw for the SCG Test, and was then left out of the squad that toured India.

But the 30-year-old received a vote of confidence on Thursday when he was named ahead of a host of other key batters in Cricket Australias contract list for the 2023-24 period.Bailey has indicated that Harris is their favored choice as they have important Tests against England and New Zealand scheduled in the next 12 months, along with home series against Pakistan and West Indies."Looking ahead, back in England, another home summer and then some Tests in New Zealand, we certainly rate Harrys ability in those conditions," Bailey was quoted as saying by Cricket.com.au."He has a really strong record in England as well and one of our criteria, when were doing the contracts, is past performances and one is an eye to the future as well so that perhaps gives us an indication of where we hold Harry." he added.

The 30-year-old batter earned the spot on the 24-player list of mens contracts ahead of rival batters Matthew Renshaw, Cameron Bancroft and Peter Handscomb, the trio who won upgrades during the most recent period.Australias current Test openers -- Usman Khawaja and David Warner -- both are turning 37 before the year is out and Bailey knows they wont be available for selection for too much longer and he need new openers soon.

"Not being rude towards Usman or Davey, but theres no doubt those two are closer to the end than the start of their careers, so were going to need some depth.Were going to need all three of those guys (Bancroft, Handscomb, Renshaw) performing really, really well for us.And hopefully they make our decisions incredibly challenging over the next little while," Bailey said.Bailey further said selectors would announce a squad for the World Test Championship final and first two Ashes Tests in the coming weeks.

bc/cs #Harris #England #hint #Australias #Delhi #Cricket #BCCI #ICC #IPL #Sports David #Delhi #New Delhi .