'Disciplined' Renshaw stands tall in middle order

Queensland captain Usman Khawaja insists a rediscovery of discipline has been the key to Matthew Renshaw's run-scoring as the left-hander finds a new home for himself in the Bulls' middle order.

Renshaw's composed 139 against Western Australia on day four in Brisbane was his second century of the Marsh Sheffield Shield summer after he broke a two-year drought last November with an unbeaten 168 against South Australia.

Both hundreds were made from No.5, a new position in the order for the tall left-hander, who was until recently a career opener.

And Khawaja believes a return to his patient and controlled ways at the crease – the traits that earned him 11 Test caps from 2016-18 – has been key to his rejuvenation.

"We had a few chats about where I thought he could improve, where I thought he went away from his game a little bit in the past, and to his credit he worked really hard on those areas," Khawaja said.

"He got his discipline back, his decision-making came back; I think he was making some poor decisions over the last couple of years and they were getting him out.

"He's always had all the shots, so when you mix both of them together for Matty, he's a pretty good player."

Sterner tests than a flat Gabba deck and an under-strength WA attack await the 24-year-old of course, while he concedes he is still adapting to the unfamiliar role and the different challenges it presents.

"I've never had to wait until day three to bat, so that was probably the biggest thing for me, just waiting 100 overs to bat," Renshaw said.

"I'm feeling pretty comfortable at the moment. I know yesterday when I was waiting to bat … I was finding things to do, finding ways to keep my mind ticking over while I'm waiting to bat.

"It's a brand-new challenge and I'm really enjoying it … I'm still working it out. I'm sure I'll never be completely comfortable with having to wait to bat for such a long time.

"I've spoken to Uzzy a bit, he just talks about preoccupying your mind while you're waiting to bat … and then when I know it's time to bat, switching on when I walk out there."

After exploding onto the Test scene in the 2016-17 summer and then finding himself almost as quickly discarded from the international game, Renshaw took time out in the back half of last season to focus on his mental health.

A year on from that break, he says he is in a good head space as he looks to avoid the dangers of overcomplicating his profession by drilling down too much into technical matters.

"I'm feeling really confident," he said. "I'm not thinking too much about technique – obviously that's important, but for me it's just about working out how the bowlers are trying to get me out and the best way to combat that.

"That's probably the biggest change for me and I feel like that's where I want to be at with my batting.

"Obviously there's going to be times where if I miss out a few times I might have to think about (technique), but I just want to try and remain really focused on the ball rather than what I'm doing, because at the end of the day you can get in ugly positions and still get runs, and they can be the most important runs."