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'Don't have to be Einstein': Harris' relatively simple theory

Back at square one after a tough Ashes campaign, Marcus Harris knows exactly what to do to secure his Test spot

The new ball might have been harder to handle than molten lava during the Ashes but Marcus Harris, having failed to pass 20 in six hits, has a realistic outlook on his Test spot.

"I'm going to have to make a lot of runs, you don't have to be Einstein to work that out," the opener told cricket.com.au in typically frank fashion this week.

Earning his stripes through a mountain of domestic runs is hardly a foreign concept for Harris, who last summer scored more of them in a Sheffield Shield season (1,118 to be precise) than any batter had in the previous four seasons.

Yet the left-hander now finds himself back at square one.

Joe Burns, who made a ton in his last Test outing, Cameron Bancroft, who played musical chairs with Harris during the Ashes, and potentially even axed No.3 Usman Khawaja shape as his main competition to partner presumed opening lock David Warner for the opening Domain Test against Pakistan next month.

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"I'm going to have to make a lot of runs in the first four Shield rounds to keep my spot," said Harris, whose first opportunity will come on Thursday when Victoria begin their Shield season against South Australia at the Junction Oval.

"I've been that situation before so it's nothing different for me. I'm just going to have to go out there and churn runs out. We've got four games, all on good grounds, so hopefully I can put myself in position (to be selected) for the first Test.

"I have had a tough little patch … but cricket turns around and changes so quickly that I've always got it in the back of my mind that it takes one good innings to get on a roll."

Image Id: 579B4F779D684EE39B948ED06C1E6926 Image Caption: Harris is bowled by Broad at the The Oval // Getty

Harris admits England's one-two punch of Stuart Broad and Jofra Archer on seaming English pitches proved the most difficult challenge of his career, with the duo removing him in five of his six innings.

Overlooked, somewhat surprisingly after a promising first summer in the side, for the first two matches of the series, Harris was recalled at Bancroft's expense to partner the struggling Warner at Headingley but failed to substantially improve the top-order’s output.

Australia's average opening stand in the series was 8.50. England fared only a little better, thanks largely to dogged efforts from Rory Burns, averaging 16.60 for the first wicket.

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"Just with the seam (movement) it was so difficult," Harris explained. "It was a great challenge … in English conditions those guys were very difficult.

"It was tough personally not to really get away at all. It was just conditions so different to what we play in with the ball seaming so much.

"There wasn't too much swing, but it was more the seam that was a real challenge and the way that Broad and Archer bowled early on made it a great challenge. It wasn't a great series for us (openers)."

Mic'd up with Australia A's Marcus Harris

While hardly vitriolic, Harris noted a swift shift in the public's attitude towards him having initially ridden a wave of public goodwill when his strong Shield form was rewarded with a Baggy Green last summer.

He endeared himself to the public with his straight-shooting manner, dispelling a so-called rift with coach Justin Langer with disarming honesty and taking the mickey out of his dad for "doing more press than me" after his debut.

It helped that he looked the part with the bat, giving glimpses of his promise against India's formidable pace attack, a 70 on a dicey Perth Stadium pitch followed by a brisk 79 at the SCG the standout knocks.

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After observing the public's mood had changed following a run of low scores during the Ashes, the 27-year-old, only a little cynically, noted: "That always happens with media.

"If you have a bad little patch, people all of a sudden don’t want to hear anything about you. Then you go all right, you become a better player than what you were. That's always going to be the way.

"It (the Ashes) was a great challenge. If I make runs at the start of the season, the rest of that stuff doesn't matter.

"Last summer I made more runs than anyone else, so I'll just try to do the same again and the reputation will look after itself."