‘Crazy’ or worth a shot? Matthew Hayden’s Ashes vent probed as mystery hangs over opening selection

Among the many debates bubbling away ahead of the first Ashes Test is whether Australia’s selectors should pick Jake Weatherald or Marnus Labuschagne to open in Perth.

And within that debate lies the notion that it’s just not cricket — ridiculous, even — to pick a makeshift opener.

Weatherald on Monday fell for 23 in his final match before the Perth Test, dragging a Scott Boland delivery onto his stumps when he shuffled on the crease and tried to slash the ball through the off side. He’ll be sweating on a big score when he pads up for his second dig in Tasmania’s Sheffield Shield clash with South Australia.

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Jake Weatherald (left) and Marnus Labuschagne. Getty

In saying that, it’s feasible that whether the aggressive left-hander receives a baggy green in Perth has nothing to do with how he goes in the Sheffield Shield in Hobart, and everything to do with the bowling fitness of Cameron Green.

Either selectors will be confident in Green’s fitness and slot him in at No.6 at the expense of fellow all-rounder Beau Webster, leaving Labuschagne to bat in his pet No.3 spot and Weatherald to open with Usman Khawaja.

Or selectors will be feeling uneasy about Green’s body and put him at No.3, allowing Webster to remain in the side at No.6 as Labuschagne pushes up to open at the expense of Weatherald.

That’s one school of thought, anyway, as cricket scribe Daniel Brettig laid out in The Age on October 28.

On Sunday, Australian Test batting legend Greg Chappell may have slipped some inside knowledge into an ESPNCricinfo column.

“Despite selecting a specialist opener, Jake Weatherald, in the squad, I believe the intention is to send Marnus Labuschagne out to open with Khawaja,” Chappell wrote.

“This will allow Cameron Green and Beau Webster to play, giving the best balance of batting and bowling in the squad — especially as Green has hardly bowled a ball in anger since his recent back surgery.”

But Chappell advised against Labuschagne opening.

“Ian Chappell and Ricky Ponting were exceptional No.3 batters for Australia in their time,” he wrote.

“That doesn’t mean that they would have been as successful had they been press-ganged into opening. They were often batting early in the innings but the mindset to walk out to open the innings is subtly different.”

Legendary former Australian Test opener Matthew Hayden went harder in an interview at the weekend.

“They [Australia’s selectors] messed it up with [selection chief] George Bailey coming up with this crazy scheme of you just pick your best six,” Hayden told News Corp.

“… This theory you just play your best six batsmen in whatever order — I fundamentally disagree with it and have done for some time … I do not want Marnus opening.”

Matthew Hayden celebrates scoring a century in Brisbane during the first Test of the 2002-03 Ashes series. Getty

Yet George Bailey has indicated numerous times since becoming Australia’s selection chief in August 2021 that he is not opposed to deploying makeshift openers.

That was evident when Khawaja was installed as an opener during the 2021-22 Ashes — a role he’s held, and largely flourished in, ever since — and when Steve Smith was last year trialled at the top against the West Indies and New Zealand following the retirement of David Warner.

It was again evident when Nathan McSweeney, who had been batting at No.3 for South Australia, was parachuted in to open against India last summer, and again when Labuschagne was sent out to open against South Africa in the World Test Championship final in June.

Prior to Bailey’s time at the helm, Matthew Wade swapped middle-order duties for opening against India in the 2020-21 summer on Trevor Hohns’ watch, while a Hohns-led selection panel also picked Aaron Finch as a rough and ready Test opener in the five matches he played against Pakistan and India in 2018.

Shaun Marsh, too, was plucked out of the middle order and dropped in at the top, during the reigns of both Rod Marsh and Hohns.

Khawaja’s remarkable career renaissance in his new role is well documented — since being budged up the order for the second Test of the 2021-22 Ashes, the elegant left-hander has churned out 2928 runs at 44.36, including six centuries and a top score of 232. His numbers are even better when the few innings he had as a Test opener prior to his full-time switch are factored.

Of Marsh, Finch, Wade, Smith, McSweeney and Labuschagne, the most successful as a Test opener was Marsh, who registered 347 runs at 38.55, including a top score of 130.

Usman Khawaja (left) and Marnus Labuschagne before walking out to bat on day one of the World Test Championship final against South Africa at Lord’s in June. Getty

Smith, regarded by many revered judges as Australia’s best batter since Sir Donald Bradman, could only muster 171 runs at 28.50 at the top. His highest score was an unbeaten 91.

McSweeney was shipped in and spat out in the space of three Tests, having managed only 72 runs at 14.40 and a top score of 39.

Finch made 278 runs at 27.80, including a top score of 62, Wade recorded 111 runs at 27.75 with a highest score of 40, and Labuschagne made scores of 17 and 22 in the only Test he has played as an opener.

In earlier eras, Justin Langer, Simon Katich and Shane Watson all made successful transitions to opening.

Langer racked up 5112 Test runs as an opener at 48.22 including 16 centuries and a top score of 250, Katich 2928 runs at 50.48 including eight tons and a highest score of 157, and Watson 2049 runs at 40.98 including two centuries and a top score of 126.

Hohns was selection chair when Langer was bumped to the top, and Andrew Hilditch when Katich and Watson were shuffled up.

“It’s about getting a good feel on whether their technique and mindset can cope with the demands of opening in Test cricket,” national coach Andrew McDonald said ahead of last summer.

“And let’s be honest, it’s a difficult job.”

Regardless of whether selectors pick Weatherald or Labuschagne to open in Perth, Khawaja is set to have a seventh change of partner since Warner called time in January 2024.

Smith was first up, then McSweeney, Sam Konstas, Travis Head (albeit in the vastly foreign conditions of Sri Lanka), and Labuschagne, before selectors gave Konstas another holler.

And with uncertainty surrounding the vacant opening spot and Khawaja’s career in its twilight, the game of musical chairs that is Australia’s top-order puzzle may well be set to turn even more frantic.

Mitch Marsh, Matthew Renshaw, Campbell Kellaway, Henry Hunt and Tim Ward are among those potentially set to pinch a seat in the game.

If a hotchpotch opener like Marsh does, expect Hayden to again be puffing out his giant chest.