3 Australian players who could face the axe when Steve Smith and David Warner return

2018 was a wretched year in an otherwise prosperous history of the Australian cricket team. They started the year on a positive note, having reclaimed the Ashes from their arch-rivals England and going undefeated in the T20I tri-series shortly thereafter. But then the South Africa series happened and nothing remained the same.

Ever since their two best batsmen were slapped with a ban for their involvement in the ball-tampering episode for a year, the team has looked like a pale shadow of itself. The series defeat against India at home has opened some fresh wounds which could be healed only by the return of Smith and Warner in April.

However, the Baggy Greens would have to endure yet another Test series without their titans when they take on Sri Lanka in the two-match Test series, starting 24th of January. With the former captain and the vice-captain set to walk into the Test team directly and the Ashes not too far away, we could see widespread changes to the batting line-up.

We take a look at three players whose places in the Australian Test side could be in jeopardy with the return of the stalwarts

1. Peter Handscomb

Peter Handscomb had a promising start to his Test career, having racked up 399 runs in his first two Test series in 2016 and 2017. Viewed as one of the few competent players of spin in the Aussie line-up, Handscomb was slated to make it big and emerge as a bright prospect for the future.

However, little did anyone imagine that his technical flaws against fast-bowling would be exposed brutally. The 27-year old had a torrid outing in the recently concluded series against India which stretched back since the Ashes 2017-18. With Travis Head promising to evolve into a player of larger repute and Usman Khawaja less likely to be axed, the Victorian with an average of 21 in three Tests looks to be the one on whom the door could eventually be closed.

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2. Aaron Finch

Australia’s limited-overs specialist had an auspicious start to his red-ball career with the national team scoring nearly two half-centuries in his first Test. Nevertheless, unlike David Warner, Finch struggled to maintain the balance between his explosive nature and the sedative attribute.

Having piled up two fifties in five Tests and after his scores of 8 and 3 in the third Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground against India, Finch was dumped from the side for the fourth game. He particularly struggled against the incoming ball which is Indian new ball bowler Ishant Sharma‘s stock delivery.

It proved to be the cause of his downfall more often than not. With his colleague Marcus Harris impressing, the 32-year-old might as well consider his career in whites for Australia all but over when Warner returns to the opening position.

3. Shaun Marsh

The hosts, in absence of their mainstay middle-order batsman, needed their senior most player to step up. But Shaun Marsh, in spite of innumerable chances, couldn’t help his national team fight to save the series. He could only manage a paltry 183 runs in four Tests at an average of less than 30.

The 35-year-old did get a lot of starts but failed to translate them to big hundreds. Shaun has not scored a century for Australia since the Ashes 2017-18 which is the biggest concern for the team given he is among their most experienced players with the bat.

The former number one Test batsman, Smith will return to the fold and is likely to bat at number four, however, despite that Australia will need to find some gritty middle-order batsmen. With the veteran possibly running out of time and chances, the selectors may have to blood in youngsters to decipher the middle-order conundrum.

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