David Warner's replacement could be player with strong white-ball form: McDonald

Australian head coach Andrew McDonald has indicated that though there are still no firm views of selectors on who will replace David Warner as an opener but doors are open for batters with a strong whiteball formDavid Warner batted in sunglasses during the training in Perth on Sunday as Australia assembled for its final Test series of the year The 37yearold wants a Test farewell in Sydney during the third Test against Pakistan and is likely to get it but McDonald has maintained that just like everyone else the openers spot remains subject to a constant reviewDaveys playing the first Test match and well go from there the coach told reporters following a centrewicket session at the WACA Ground as quoted by cricketcomauAlso ReadIND vs SA Virat Kohli will be the key against Proteas in Tests feels KallisMcDonald stressed that until a replacement for Warner is needed no succession plan has been put in place Matthew Renshaw who scored a ton in a tour match against Pakistan in Canberra along with Cameron Bancroft and Marcus Harris are frontrunners to replace Warner because of the varying success they have had in the Shield over the yearsWe know they can play they have got good numbers in Shield cricket and I think if we were to go down that path and choose one of them I think they would do a really good job McDonald said of the trio who have all played 10 Tests eachBut a less conventional approach could be considered Allrounder Cameron Green will start the summer from the sidelines as McDonald confirmed that Mitchell Marsh will play at number six against Pakistan after taking Greens spot during the Ashes this yearThe young allrounder could be replacing Warner when his spot becomes available During this situation another batter will be promoted to open to allow Green back into the middle orderAlso ReadNo batting remedy in sightMarsh and Marnus Labuschagne have been doing rounds as such options to be promoted to the top of the lineup Travis Head opened in whiteball cricket and took on the new ball in Tests when Warner missed the second half of the Border Gavaskar Trophy this yearMcDonald has stressed that during the World Test Championship Australia must pick up its best playing eleven in every match He suggested that strong performances in whiteball cricket could help players chances in Test cricket as an openerI think a lot of our whiteball players that continue to play international cricket do not get a lot of Shield cricket so there is always that are they at the mercy of selection because they are not playing a certain format he saidYou have got to really juggle that and balance that We feel as though you can come from different running linesBut the Shield competition for mine is very strong We have had some difficult wickets this year so it has been really hard to get a judge on what the batting units actually look like and what they may look like at international level the currency is runs and there is some players that have put their hand up thereI think we are in good hands and I think the domestic competition prepares them wellEveryone sort of looks to the future and worries about what is next and someone always puts their hand up The next decision is the most important one once Dave goes Dave has not gone yet so we do not have to make a decision concluded McDonaldSchedule of Pakistan tour of AustraliaPrime Ministers XI v Pakistan XI December 69 Manuka OvalFirst Test December 1418 Perth StadiumSecond Test December 2630 MCGThird Test January 37 SCGAustralia squad first Test only Pat Cummins c Scott Boland Alex Carey Cameron Green Josh Hazlewood Travis Head Usman Khawaja Marnus Labuschagne Nathan Lyon Mitch Marsh Lance Morris Steve Smith Mitch Starc David WarnerPakistan squad Shan Masood c Aamir Jamal Abdullah Shafique Abrar Ahmed Babar Azam Faheem Ashraf Hasan Ali ImamulHaq Khurram Shahzad Mir Hamza Mohammad Rizwan wk Mohammad Wasim Jnr Noman Ali Saim Ayub Salman Ali Agha Sarfaraz Ahmed wk Saud Shakeel and Shaheen Shah AfridiThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever