'Open-minded': One-day guns Connolly, Inglis vying for Test berth

White-ball standouts Cooper Connolly and Josh Inglis are firmly in the mix to bat at No.3 in the South Africa Test series, says coach Andrew McDonald, who also tipped Travis Head to retain his opening role.

Both Connolly, player of the series on the three-ODI tour of Zimbabwe after returning 51, 78 and 21 while also claiming three wickets, and Inglis, who posted a run-a-ball 102 in the final game in Harare, have arrived in Durban in strong ODI form as they press their case for Test recalls.

More runs for the Test squad's two reserve batters in the ODI series against the Proteas – beginning on Thursday at Kingsmead, which is also the venue for the Test series opener next month – could further enhance their cases to unseat Marnus Labuschagne, the incumbent Test first drop who selectors say is no certainty to hold his spot.  

McDonald insisted Australia's batting order was constantly being reviewed in search of improvement, their self-confessed underperformance belying a strong overall record in which they have won 19 of their past 25 Tests.

While acknowledging the formats' divergent requirements, McDonald and fellow selectors have stated that they see ODI cricket as something of a Test proving ground.

It is no stretch then to suggest considerable weight could be given to more 50-over runs from Connolly and Inglis against some of the same bowlers they will face in the Test series that also features matches in Gqeberha and Cape Town.

That pair are in the box seat to bat three and four respectively at next year's World Cup. But both have scant first-class experience batting above No.5. Connolly has done it twice in 21 innings; Inglis nine times from 107 innings, including twice at No.4 in the Barbados Test last year.

Neither Western Australian has played a great deal of red-ball cricket in recent times given their respective white-ball ascendances.

Connolly has batted 21 times in international limited-overs matches since his Test debut in February last year and has played eight first-class games over the same period.

Inglis, who made a Test century on debut in Sri Lanka last year, has played four first-class games since his most recent Test in the Caribbean, during which time he has batted 32 times for the ODI and T20I teams, while also filling in as the limited-overs captain.

Both insist they are undaunted at the prospect of taking on the World Test champions in an unfamiliar spot.

Inglis was fresh off his second ODI ton on Sunday when he said: "I'll bat wherever they ask me to if it gets me a game."

Connolly, speaking to cricket.com.au in Harare last week, stressed he would seize an opportunity "whether that's at three or it's in the middle order".

McDonald said their lack of top-order experience may not necessarily matter, citing Head and Usman Khawaja's successful recent Test transitions from middle-order to opening roles.

"We're open minded to that, definitely," the coach told cricket.com.au. "Some of our best openers have gone from five to opening.

"Travis went from five to opening, and 'Uzzie' went from five to opening. I think it's all about timing and how prepared they are for that.

"'Coop' hasn't played a lot of first-class cricket, so his experiences are quite narrow.

"He's played a lot of white-ball cricket in recent times. Can that translate into being a top order option? Or is he better suited through the middle?

"Josh Inglis has been the reserve batter for a long period of time, and people have debated whether he could have opened (when a vacancy arose in 2024-25). We think he's got the skillset to potentially bat anywhere in that order.

"So we feel as though we've got two good options … (and) if anything were to move, we've got players that are up and running in the Australia A squad in India."

If Australia went down that route, Sam Konstas, Nathan McSweeney and Campbell Kellaway would appear the viable top-order options who could conceivably be flown to South Africa out of the Peter Handscomb-captained A squad beginning the first of two four-day games in Puducherry today.

McDonald added that such a change would need to be made early enough as to not "set them up for failure" considering India and South Africa present "massively different conditions".

Australia's two-day red-ball tour match begins in Potchefstroom on October 3, a day after the second four-dayer against India A concludes.

It is an intriguing set of circumstances coming out of the 1-1 series draw against Bangladesh in Australia's Top End, during which the hosts failed to pass 300 in their three batting innings.

One of the mooted solutions has been to throw Steve Smith up one spot from No.4 to No.3, an option selection boss George Bailey did not rule out when asked about it. That could allow Cameron Green, the leading run scorer against Bangladesh, to move to No.4.

Another possibility is to demote Head, who chopped on to his stumps three times for scores of 22, 17 and 22 in the northern Tests, from the opening spot he dominated during the Ashes back to No.5.

In discussing the options, McDonald reiterated his open-mindedness to a more unconventional (but so far untried) prospect of readjusting the order mid-Test.

"It's not a checkpoint where you go, 'Oh, suddenly we need to talk about the batting order' … those conversations are always happening," he said.

"At this stage, we haven't felt the need to change too much of that in terms of the batting order and line-up. We've been through it with 'Greeny' (Cameron Green) – he went from six, to four, to three (then to five) – so he's been up and down.

"All those decisions are made with the best intentions of the team to get performance. We feel as though we've got a batting unit that that does buy into that. They can be flexible.

"Who knows? Maybe one day there'll be a batting order for a first innings of a Test match and a totally different batting order for a second set of conditions in the second innings of a Test match.

"The Travis Head one is interesting. He's done well opening. Do you move the part that's been incredibly successful across the last 12 months? It's a question that we will ask ourselves.

"But as it sits at the moment I'd say we're pretty comfortable with him opening and the way he's gone about it."

They are views McDonald acknowledged would not be universally popular.

Ricky Ponting has labelled Labuschagne's position at No.3 as "untenable" having not scored a Test century in three years, while selectors have previously come under fire at various times for persisting with the likes of David Warner, Khawaja and Green.

"If my job was to line everyone up and get everyone aligned internally, externally, it wouldn't be a nice space to live in," said McDonald.

"I think internally (aligning people) is the most important.

"We are conscious that whatever move we make, that it could disrupt, and does it disrupt the team to a point where you can't function? That's always a battle.

"But I wouldn't say it's about convincing people. It's more just trying to give them an understanding around how we go about it. Some will like that. Some won't.

"There's people out there that are incredibly knowledgeable in the game that don't always agree with what we do and they're entitled to their opinions. They see the game differently.

"That's the beauty about this game – there's so many different angles to come at it.

"Who should be opening? Who should be batting three? Should they play a spinner on that surface? 'Can't believe they did this' – we love that debate.

"But ultimately our job is to make decisions on the inside, make sure that we're really aligned. We've got real trust and belief that what we put out there and the order in which we put it out there, or the balance of the bowling attack that we put out there, sets it up for success."

Qantas tour of South Africa 2026

All matches to be broadcast exclusively in Australia on Kayo and Fox Cricket

First ODI: September 24, Kingsmead Stadium, Durban, 6pm AEST (10am local)

Second ODI: September 27, Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg, 6pm AEST (10am local)

Third ODI: September 30, JB Marks Oval, Potchefstroom, 9:30pm AEST (D/N, 1:30pm local)

South Africa ODI squad: Temba Bavuma (c), Corbin Bosch, Matthew Breetzke, Gerald Coetzee, Quinton de Kock, Tony de Zorzi, Bjorn Fortuin, Duan Jansen, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kwena Maphaka, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Nqobani Mokoena, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs

Australia ODI squad: Mitchell Marsh, Pat Cummins, Xavier Bartlett, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Joel Davies, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Oliver Peake, Matthew Renshaw, Billy Stanlake, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa

Warm-up match: October 3-4, JB Marks Oval, Potchefstroom, 6pm AEST (10am local)

First Test: October 9-13, Kingsmead Stadium, Durban, 6:30pm AEDT (9:30am local)

Second Test: October 18-22, St George's Park, Gqeberha, 7pm AEDT (10am local)

Third Test: October 27-31, Newlands, Cape Town, 7:30pm AEDT (10:30am local)

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