Weatherald dropped, Renshaw recalled for second Test

Australia have broken up their Ashes-winning opening partnership one match into their ensuing run of matches, with Jake Weatherald dropped for the second Test against Bangladesh in Mackay.

Matthew Renshaw has replaced him and is in the box seat to take on the new ball with Travis Head at Great Barrier Reef Arena after selectors swung the axe following their stunning nine-wicket defeat in Darwin.

Weatherald, showing a tweaked technique designed to avoid lbw and bowled dismissals that dogged him against England, made 23 and 0 in his hometown Test. It took his career average from 12 innings to 20.36. Selectors handed him a national contract in April after several strong opening stands with Head during the 4-1 Ashes series win, but have now discarded him one Test later.

"Yeah, there was some change to Jake in terms of where he lined up and his movement patterns," coach Andrew McDonald said of Weatherald, who edged behind in the first innings in Darwin and chopped on in the second.

"It's always hard to critique small sample sizes on whether it holds up (at international level). He dragged one on and drove at one in the first innings and was dismissed; it's probably harder with that smaller sample size to say, 'Yep, that's going to hold up under pressure'. But there was some change though."

Josh Inglis is the other left-field option to open alongside Head with the 31-year-old remaining in the 13-man squad that went to Darwin. The five-Test right-hander has typically batted at five or below in the Sheffield Shield but has been touted as a top-order option by selectors in the past and struck 40 and 125no opening for the Cricket Australia XI against England Lions in November.

Renshaw would be the conventional pick and has scored two first-class centuries at the northern Queensland venue that is making its Test debut. The 30-year-old played the last of his 14 Tests three years ago in Delhi batting in the middle order. But he was the best performed Sheffield Shield opener last summer, scoring three hundreds in 10 innings and averaging just shy of 50.

It is no certainty that he will necessarily be a straight swap for Weatherald. The Pat Cummins-led outfit have in recent times kept an open mind concerning batting orders, with the promotion of Head from No.5 to open during the Ashes the most recent example.

Marnus Labuschagne remains in the squad but is also under pressure to hold his place at No.3 having scored 1 and 31 in the first Test against Bangladesh, leaving open the possibility Australia could make two changes to their top three.

Labuschagne is averaging 25.23 from his last 42 Test innings and has not made an international century in nearly three years.

"Up until the point he got out (in his second innings against Bangladesh), you'd sit there and say (that) he was looking good, moving well, clipping off his pads and getting back through the ball down the ground," said McDonald.

"It's easy for me to sit here and try to defend that. But ultimately, it's 31. It's not a big score. He's lacked runs. He feels that. We feel that. We're working incredibly hard as a coaching group … we've got to get the best out of Marn as well.

"He's had a bit of a lull. He knows that he's gone to work. I think we saw some change in the way that he played, so that's good. Some of that work that he had done feels as though it's stuck up under pressure."

NRMA Insurance Bangladesh Test series

First Test: Bangladesh won by nine wickets

Second Test: August 22-26, Great Barrier Reef Arena, Mackay, 10am (local)

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster

Bangladesh squad: Najmul Hossain Shanto (c), Mehidy Hasan Miraz (vc), Soumya Sarkar, Shadman Islam, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Mominul Haque Showrab, Mushfiqur Rahim, Litton Das, Amite Hasan, Jaker Ali Anik, Taijul Islam, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Syed Khaled Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain Chowdhury, Musfik Hasan, Litton Das, Shoriful Islam