“Renners is in a really good place mentally and his cricket is showing that,” Carey said. “He has got a young family now and he has played some [international] white-ball cricket [recently], so he has been around the group a fair bit the last couple of years. Every challenge that has come his way he has really stood up to it. I’m looking forward to seeing Renners out there alongside Trav.”
Speaking to Nine newspapers, Renshaw reflected on starting his Test career so young. “I look back at photos of myself ten years ago and see a little baby playing Test cricket,” he said. “It was pretty crazy, but hopefully this time getting the opportunity, I’ll be in a lot better mindset and a lot better frame.”
It’s been an interesting route back for Renshaw. During the Covid era, he moved into the middle order for Queensland having not scored a first-class hundred since 2018. He found some success there, and his return to the Test side in 2022-23 was as a middle-order batter who was highly regarded against spin, having previously had his career stalled on the subcontinent.
That comeback was short-lived, and by then he was back opening in the Sheffield Shield. He scored two centuries against New Zealand A in early 2023 and another (at No. 3) for the Prime Minister’s XI against Pakistan later that year, albeit on a lifeless Canberra pitch. Between those came that second century in Mackay but he wasn’t viewed as an option when David Warner retired. With overall Shield averages of 24.93 in 2023-24 and 29.17 in 2024-25 it’s understandable why others were given a run ahead of him.
“He got the balance between attack and defence and opens the batting for Queensland in Sheffield Shield cricket. There has been a lot made about the wickets produced the last couple of years so for him to score three hundreds last season [shows] he has got the game for all conditions”
Alex Carey on Matt Renshaw
Last season, he made three hundreds and averaged 49.90, comfortably the highest figure among the top 25 run-scorers in the Shield. The centuries came in a five innings stretch during the first half of the summer, but the selectors had already earmarked Jake Weatherald for the Ashes, and not unfairly given he had produced similar numbers the season before.
But an Australia recall did come as he debuted in ODIs and T20Is, and was also a late addition for the T20 World Cup. His role has largely been in the middle order, although his last two ODI innings were 0 and 0 against Bangladesh in June, when the ball moved in Mirpur, after he was pushed up to No. 3 and No. 4. He did, however, bounce back with an unbeaten 89 in the T20I series.
“Renners has definitely matured as a cricketer, as you do when you move into your 30s as you learn a lot about yourself, the game and the challenges that come with that,” Carey said. “He got the balance between attack and defence and opens the batting for Queensland in Sheffield Shield cricket. There has been a lot made about the wickets produced the last couple of years so for him to score three hundreds last season [shows] he has got the game for all conditions.”
“It is obviously always difficult when someone is dropped from a team,” Carey said. “I flicked him a message yesterday and obviously gave him all my support and look forward to him bouncing back in a big way in South Australian colours.”
“I feel like I have nailed a process over the last little period and stuck to that. I haven’t really deflected away from what works for me,” he said. “I have played a fair bit of consistent cricket at Sheffield Shield level, and batting at No. 5 for South Australia is always good exposure. I just love playing cricket and finding ways to learn and improve. I still feel like there is a lot of improvement in my game.”
Andrew McGlashan is a deputy editor at Cricinfo
