Matt Renshaw has been out of form in the Sheffield Shield with only 53 runs in last two games. The opener, however, has got the backing of Australia selector Mark Waugh before the upcoming Ashes 2017 series against England which begins on November 23. Though Waugh did not say that Renshaw is in doubt for the first Test, he needs to score runs.
"Im not saying that," Waugh said when asked if Renshaw's spot is up for grabs. "But Im saying it would have been nice to see him score a few more runs in the season so far.
"His record for Australia is very good, his average is about 37 and he's batted in some tough conditions in India and played well and played well last summer. Like everybody, he would have liked more runs so far in the season but we know what he can do. "You cant score runs every game, every year. Youre going to go through these low periods, so Matt has just got to handle that. Im sure he's good enough to do the job."
Renshaw's failures in Shield have given doubts over his Ashes debut but he did not begin the year on the same note. After his 184-run innings against Pakistan, Renshaw had a decent outing in India where he scored 68, 31, 60, 5, 44, 1 and 8. "At the end of the day youre playing for Australia and I dont think there's any cricketer who hasnt been under pressure at some stage," he said. "Personally, I got dropped after eight or nine Tests. Im not saying at all that's going to happen to Matt Renshaw, but it's just part of being a top-level cricketer.
"If youre a batsman and you dont score runs, then people are going to talk about it. If youre a bowler and you dont take wickets, people talk about that as well. That's just the nature of the game and it's how you handle it (that's important)."
