No Ashes yet, but Renshaw sees the bigger picture

After several strong summers for Queensland, Matthew Renshaw was distraught to miss out on the Ashes last summer.

It wasn't the first time he'd been on the precipice of selection for a series that would be particularly special to him, given England is the country of his birth. 

And in his corner were the likes of Usman Khawaja and Matthew Hayden – just two of the prominent names pushing for a recall for the tall opener, but ultimately that position went to Jake Weatherald.

However, in an unexpected sliding doors moment, Renshaw now sees that missed selection as one of the important moments in his career.

"I would have loved to have played the Ashes," Renshaw told the Unplayable Podcast in Durban. "(But I) didn't. (I then) made a Big Bash hundred. Then I got picked in a T20 World Cup squad. I made my ODI debut in that time as well.

"So I think a lot of the time we can be so switched on about the decision that was made at that time and be pretty happy or sad. But I've learned through my time that can be a blessing and a curse depending on how you look at things."

A domestic schedule freed up by his Ashes non-selection helped elevate Renshaw to Australia's white-ball squads, and almost a year on the Queenslander has cemented his spot in the ODI middle order with several strong performances including a maiden century in the format against Zimbabwe last month.

Reflecting on that innings in Harare, Renshaw saw it as an opportunity he simply had to take.

"I was on 75 and I was like, 'I could probably get a hundred here'," he said.

"And then internally I panicked a little bit and went, 'Oh, I don't want to stuff this up. I might not have another chance'."

As it turned out, Renshaw's white-ball runs didn't hurt his Test aspirations.

Weatherald was dropped from the side following two low scores in the loss to Bangladesh in Darwin and the Queenslander was next in line, recalled to the side for the second Test in Mackay.

Listen to Renshaw on the Unplayable Podcast now, available on all podcast platforms and in the player above.

Qantas tour of South Africa 2026

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

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)

South Africa's first Test preliminary squad: Temba Bavuma (c), Marques Ackerman, David Bedingham, Corbin Bosch, Gerald Coetzee, Tony de Zorzi, Simon Harmer, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Senuran Muthusamy, Anrich Nortje, Dane Paterson, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Kyle Verreynne

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