Australia's Ashes 'bat-off' begins: Who could open against England?

It can be easy to forget that 19-year-old Konstas is actually the incumbent Test opener. It is also worth remembering that his name was not on anyone's lips when a similar debate was happening 12 months ago around who should open in the Border-Gavaskar series, which proves how quickly things can change and how redundant this list of contenders may be come November.

Konstas gets the opportunity to throw down an early marker in India as the only one of the true contenders to be sent on the Australia A trip, which is more of a development tour for 2027 and beyond than truly Australia's second best XI. Bailey said in August that conditions in Lucknow will likely have no "great read through" to the Ashes and that Shield runs will be of more value. But a century or two, particularly against Mohammed Siraj in game two of the series, will do Konstas no harm.

However, given his performances in the Caribbean and his overall first-class record, he would need to do a lot in the first three Shield games against WA at the WACA, Victoria at the Junction Oval and Queensland at the Gabba to prove that he is the right choice for the Ashes. The repeatability of his method and the tempo of his batting will again be examined closely as much as the runs he scores.

It is hard to believe that a 31-year-old with a Test average of 46.19 and 11 centuries from 58 Tests is not an automatic starter in Australia's XI for Perth. But Labuschagne's decline has been alarming and it is the reason he was left out in the Caribbean. He has not scored a Test century since July 2023 and has not scored a century in any of his last 42 international or domestic innings across all three forms. He has just one half-century in his last 16 which was in the Shield final in March.

He has been scoring centuries and half-centuries in club T20 and state 50-over practice matches in the last fortnight. It is likely he has the least to do to prove his case for the Ashes. The selectors and coaching staff need only to see a version of the old busy and reliable Labuschagne in the early Shield rounds and or the ODIs against India. A couple of two-hour-plus innings, showcasing the technical work he did with batting coach Michael Di Venuto during the Caribbean tour, could be enough to get him picked in the first Test.

There will be no concerns with him opening rather than batting at No. 3 despite limited experience. He has more first-class opening experience (17 innings), and as many hundreds (two) in the position, as both Konstas and Nathan McSweeney did when they were selected to open against India last year. The main concern may come with pairing he and Khawaja together in terms of their respective scoring rates. There is a world where Labuschagne could also return to No. 3 but that would probably require he and another contender to be in red-hot form, Cameron Green to be flying with the ball and Beau Webster's batting form to tail off significantly before the first Test.

The left-hander has the best chance of any uncapped player to earn a debut in the Ashes. He has been the most in-form domestic batter, let alone opener, in first-class cricket in Australia over the past 12 months. At 30, he is playing the best cricket of his life and enjoying it more than ever after experiencing significant ups and downs both on and off-field in his first decade as a professional.

Unlike Konstas and Labuschagne, his game is not in a state of flux. Weatherald is well past tinkering with his technique, method, and preparation. He is also scoring at the fastest rate of his career, having struck at 67.23 in his last 20 innings while piling up 1143 runs, including four scores of 145-plus. From a tempo and style perspective, he is the perfect fit in a top four that has a tendency to absorb rather than put pressure back on the bowlers. A continuation of his spectacular form last summer in the early Shield rounds against Queensland, WA and potentially a Scott Boland-led Victoria attack would make him difficult to ignore.

Harris is a perennial contender and remains in the selectors' thoughts despite not playing a Test match since the 2021-22 Ashes and only averaging 25.29 from 14 appearances. There are several factors in his favour. The selectors know the cauldron of the Ashes won't be an issue for him. He played four of the five Tests in 2021-22 and top-scored with 76 in his third last Test innings on the worst pitch of the series at the MCG against James Anderson, Mark Wood and Ben Stokes. He is also coming off scoring 1027 runs at 60.41 in the County Championship for Lancashire, including three centuries and five half-centuries.

Factors counting against Harris are that he is 33 and all of those Championship runs came in Division Two batting at No. 4 and 5. He has also averaged just 34.20 in 55 Shield innings since his last Test appearance, with three of his four centuries coming at the Junction Oval. He averages less than 32 at all of Australia's Test grounds in that time. His strike-rate has also dropped to 46.49 over that period, compared to his career rate of 53.09. Harris would need to return to the fluent, high-scoring player that he was when first selected in 2018-19 in order to jump to the top of the queue. There is a chance he may bat at No.3 for Victoria but that is unlikely to affect his chances should he score heavily.

Renshaw would need a lot to go right to be in the Ashes mix but Australia's selectors have not put a line through him given he was picked for Australia A's white-ball team in the winter, albeit he was not considered for the red-ball games against Sri Lanka A. At 29, Renshaw could be experiencing a strong sense of both deja vu and empathy watching Konstas' journey from afar. His early career arc was eerily similar. He was a similarly speculative pick to open in Test cricket off limited first-class experience as a 20-year-old. He made 184 in his sixth Test innings against Pakistan, but then a severe form slump saw him left out of the 2017-18 Ashes and that started a rollercoaster career that has seen him twice picked and dropped by Australia since.

He has also lost his place for Queensland and batted down the order at times with a lot more success than he has had opening. In his last two Shield seasons he has averaged 34 and 29 respectively. His List A 50-over form by contrast has been outstanding and he is very close to cracking Australia's ODI team as a middle-order option. Several big Shield scores opening for Queensland at the start of the summer would attract attention.

Twelve months ago Bancroft was in the same position Weatherald is in now. He had scored 2021 runs at 54.62 from his last 42 Shield innings with nine centuries and the was the public favourite to open against India. But he then endured a torrid run with returns of 0, 0, 8, 2, 0, 16, 3, 0, 12 and 11 before the first Test which led to the selection of McSweeney.

Bancroft's coming off an excellent winter for Gloucestershire where he scored runs in all forms, but would need to pile up some big scores at the start of the season to put himself realistically in the frame. However, his WA captain and opening partner Sam Whiteman believes he is capable of playing Test cricket again. "He's been a prolific run scorer for the past decade so as a good mate, I'd love to see him get one more crack at Test cricket because I feel like he's such a better player now than he was when he was playing," Whiteman said.

Campbell Kellaway had a great finish to the domestic season last summer and will likely open alongside Konstas in India. Some big scores for Victoria at the start of the season would put him in the conversation if others falter.

McSweeney will also feature in India and can't be discounted after being selected last year but he needs some runs at No. 3 for South Australia.

Josh Inglis' name is continually raised publicly but it seems highly unlikely he would be considered to open in Test cricket in Australia. He would be one of the first picked for a middle-order role if an injury were to occur as it did with Smith in the Caribbean.

Kurtis Patterson was selected for Australia A last summer and during the winter after an excellent return to form for New South Wales. He is seen more as a middle-order option but more runs at No. 3 for NSW won't be ignored if others aren't performing.

The likes of Whiteman, Tim Ward, Caleb Jewell, and even Jayden Goodwin would have to do something spectacular at the start of the Shield season to vault into contention. But Konstas was in the same position 12 months ago, so the door is very much ajar for anyone to step through.