Why selectors must be wary of 'big mistakes' as heat turns up on Marnus Labuschagne

With a century in the Sheffield Shield, Cameron Bancroft's name is now back in lights and it puts more pressure on Marnus Labuschagne.

Heading into this India series, it appeared the opener's spot was his for the taking.

David Warner was retired, and the Steve Smith experiment had run its course.

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But Bancroft could not have asked for a worst start to the 2024/25 season.

There was a pair in the opening round of the Sheffield Shield against Queensland. Then 8 and 2 against Tasmania.

He was still in contention when it came to the Australia A matches.

0, 16, 3 and 0 made for grim reading.

Against Victoria in the next round of the Shield he scored 12 and 11. It looked like it was more of the same against South Australia when he scored another duck.

But finally Bancroft managed to score that elusive hundred in the second innings, and the relief was there to see.

The timely ton stops the rot and it was an innings that his admirers became familiar with last season when he was second on the runscorers list. He also topped it the season before.

Bancroft's performances weren't enough to land him a spot in the Test side last season when Smith was preferred in an attempt to provide Cameron Green with a path back into the team.

However, now Bancroft could be in contention again.

Labuschagne is under significant pressure to stay in the side and if there's more failures at Adelaide, the heat will really turn up.

Nathan McSweeney is currently opening but is more suited to No.3 or No.4. Bancroft could be a big chance to move into the opening spot, particularly if he performs well against NSW in the next Shield match.

But the knock against Bancroft in recent years has been his technique, which was only heightened by comments Warner made on Fox Cricket before the Test series started.

"There's no air speed at the moment in Shield cricket, and you're playing at venues that don't bounce," Warner explained.

"With Cameron Bancroft, his foot's still out to point. If someone was bowling 145km/h, he's still going to make the same mistake.

"In my eyes, it's about his front foot being pointed out to point. When there's faster air speed, when the bowlers are bowling faster, he's going to get rolled through, LBW or he'll get caught in the slips cordon.

"He had that trouble when he was playing for Australia."

The standard of the Sheffield Shield has also been part of the hesitancy around Bancroft.

Ian Chappell identified that problem ahead of the series.

"Shield cricket, people are basing a lot of their information off Shield cricket," he said on Wide World of Sports' Outside the Rope.

"The problem with the Shield game is, compared with the one Mark (Taylor) played and one that I played and what they're playing now is we couldn't avoid a fast bowler or good spinner because you were going to play against them and the selectors could see if you got runs against a quick attack, a good spin attack, they would say 'this kid can play against that sort of bowling'.

"But now there's no international players playing, so selectors haven't got the same basis as they had in the past. I think if you went on Shield runs alone you could make some big mistakes."

While Bancroft is one name, others sit among the batting contenders for the top order. Wide World of Sports runs the rule over some of the figures in the running:

Sam Konstas

It was a promising start to the Sheffield Shield season for the young gun, scoring back-to-back centuries.

He's fallen away since, with just one half-century from 10 first class innings.

But there's no doubting the talent is there, and he's had plenty of support.

Marcus Harris

A name that constantly appears on these lists.

Started the Shield season with a bang, scoring 143 against Tasmania.

But he's another one that's fallen away and has yet to hit a ton in his last 11 first class innings.

The other factor that counts against Harris is his 25.29 average in Test cricket, which doesn't make for good reading.

Matt Renshaw

Just like Harris, he's a consistent figure in these types of articles.

And just like the names around, he's scored a century in the Shield, but there's been no consistency.

Renshaw hit 121 against Tasmania in mid-November but in the most recent round, he's backed it up with 14 and 0.

Kurtis Patterson

A real smokey here but his name has started getting mentioned since a return to Shield cricket.

Famously averages 144 from two Tests after his ton against Sri Lanka.

This season he's scored 13, 91, 66, 71, 99 and 33. You get the feeling he's a three digit score away from making a serious case.

"Kurtis is an interesting case study ... in form, has a Test hundred, I don't think you pick him but all of a sudden if he gets a hundred next game (he's a chance)," Ed Cowan said on The Grandstand Cricket Podcast.

"It shows you the game can move quickly in one direction or another."

Honourable mentions

Campbell Kellaway is a young top order batter with plenty of potential, and scored his maiden first class century against Queensland this week.

South Australian opener Henry Hunt hit 106 against Western Australia in their recent draw but needs to find more consistency.

Two-Test representative Hilton Cartwright currently leads the run-scoring tally in Shield cricket and has made appearances at No.4.

Josh Inglis is currently in the Test squad but hasn't been spoken about as a top order batter while all-rounder Beau Webster is in a similar boat having topped the run-scorers list last year.