LISA STHALEKAR: Ability of Cameron Green, Mitch Marsh to bowl a concern for Australia ahead of India series

Cameron Green’s back injury has given Australian selectors a second chance at finding the right balance for the Test team and brought the Sheffield Shield back to the cricketing centre stage.

Once the true breeding ground for Test cricketers, the Sheffield Shield barely rates a blip on the cricket calendar and appeared completely irrelevant last year when selectors opted to promote Steve Smith to replace David Warner at the top of the order instead of going for a specialist opener from the domestic competition.

However, with Australian cricket riddled with injuries, the Sheffield Shield offers the perfect platform for someone to springboard themselves into the Test team this summer.

While the extent of Green’s injury has still not been disclosed there will be fierce debate among selectors that if he was unable to play, should Smith, our most prolific batter since Don Bradman, bat a four or even three, where he has had the most success.

We have not heard yet from Smith whether he wants to continue to open after a less than impressive start to the role last summer. This vacuum has allowed many pundits to suggest Mitch Marsh or even Travis Head, who open in the white ball formats for Australia, could open alongside Usman Khawaja.

Going for a batter like these two, who like to blast their way into an innings putting early pressure on the opposition bowlers, would aptly replace Warner and compliment Khawaja who likes to ease his way into the match.

Khawaja himself may not be at the top of the order much longer. He will turn 38 on the last day of the Gabba Test.

I think Australia should select the next best domestic opener as they need to be looking beyond just this summer.

They should be looking at an opener who has put performances on the board not only in the first few rounds of Shield cricket, but in previous years as well.

Why find a short-term solution from within the team when in the near future you may need to find another opener when Khawaja retires.<

Players like Marcus Harris have a chance to catch the eye of selectors and no doubt his century (143) for Victoria on day one against Tasmania has his name at the top of the small list of players who could force their way into the team.

WA’s Cameron Bancroft unfortunately went out first ball, and Matt Renshaw made just six against Western Australia today. The new head coach of the Queensland Bulls, Johan Botha, stated back in May, “We’ve got to get him in the best form and shape as possible and when that opportunity comes up and does fall to him that he’s ready to take it and not let it go again.”

Additionally, NSW’s Nic Maddison on the Willow Talk Podcast claimed he would love to play Test Cricket again and understands that scoring 1000 runs in Shield should be the bare minimum. Unfortunately for him, he went cheaply (12) against South Australia.

Sam Kontas who turned 19 last week, has got tongues wagging with his breathtaking 152 (241) against South Australia, but I would allow the kid a chance to play more than just the five Shield matches before unleashing Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Siraj, Ravichandran Ashwin and co on him.

The Australian selectors may not only be looking for an opener, as the other concerning aspect for the Test team, is the lack of all-rounders, especially if they lose Green’s bowling for the entire summer.

Marsh is a concern with the ball after only bowling four overs in the recent series in England and he missed the next match due to soreness.

The reason all-rounders are important is to give the three big quicks Josh Hazlewood, Mitch Starc and Pat Cummins a chance to have a break, which is exactly what happened last year. That is why we saw all three quicks play the entire summer of Test cricket.

This year’s series is challenging as India arrive on our shores to win their third consecutive series here and with the Border-Gavaskar series now extended to five Test matches.

Players like Aaron Hardie have been mentioned, but he too will miss the first round of Shield with a quad injury. Even the Tasmanian, Beau Webster might be a chance as selectors are on the hunt to add to their list.

I just hope selectors put their trust back into the Sheffield Shield to find their answers like they once did.

And overnight the Australian Women’s cricket team dominated their Trans-Tasman rivals, New Zealand and have placed themselves in the box seat for a semifinals berth in this year’s T20 World Cup.

Winning the toss and electing to bat, Australia got off to a perfect start thanks to Healy’s, 26 and Mooney’s 40.

However, once Perry fell in the 14th over for 30 (24), Australia crumbled like the sands of Sharjah, losing 6-39 off 37 deliveries. Posting 8-148, which is still the largest total in Sharjah, on a wicket that is lower and slower than Dubai.

New Zealand could not have asked for a worst start losing one of their openers in the third over and falling way behind the required run rate.

Megan Schutt was exceptional, taking 3-3 (3.2) and becoming the leading wicket-taker of all time in T20 World Cups.

Annabel Sutherland also chimed in with 3-21, with the Kiwi’s bowled out for 88 and the Aussies winning by 60 runs.