{"id":151548,"date":"2021-10-29T06:26:02","date_gmt":"2021-10-29T06:26:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=151548"},"modified":"2021-10-29T08:57:51","modified_gmt":"2021-10-29T08:57:51","slug":"test-incumbent-tons-up-in-bid-for-ashes-nod","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=151548","title":{"rendered":"Test incumbent tons up in bid for Ashes nod"},"content":{"rendered":"

Enormous uncertainty surrounds the prospect of Marcus Harris<\/a> retaining his position as David Warner<\/a>'s opening partner for the first Ashes<\/a> Test, but a timely century has done the Victorian a huge favour.<\/p>\n

Harris has compiled a very patient century on day three of Victoria<\/a>'s Sheffield Shield<\/a> fixture against NSW<\/a>, scoring 137 from 361 balls at Sydney's Drummoyne Oval as the visitors set the hosts 339 to win.<\/p>\n

However, a very simple catching opportunity was grassed by NSW youngster Matthew Gilkes at gully when Harris was on 66, with the left-hander trying to drive through the covers but edging a Sean Abbott<\/a> delivery.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Harris was eventually dismissed when he was caught by Nathan Lyon<\/a> at deep backward point off the bowling of Abbott while cutting a short ball.<\/p>\n

Former Test batter Peter Handscomb<\/a> also punished the NSW bowling attack, garnering 115 from 292.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Warner ends drought in clinical Australian win<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Warner and Harris are Australia's incumbent opening batters, having combined at the top of the order against India at The Gabba in January.<\/p>\n

But Harris' shaky form in the Test arena \u2013 he averages just 23.77 from 10 matches \u2013 and Will Pucovski<\/a>'s precocious talent mean his place in Australia's XI is very unstable.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Captain Tim Paine revealed on SEN radio in October<\/a> that, if Pucovski hadn't suffered another concussion, he'd have "no doubt" the 23-year-old would open with Warner in the Ashes, while also stating that Harris was considered the next man in line.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Baffling keeping blunder that saved Warner<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Usman Khawaja<\/a> has re-emerged as a contender to open against England, thanks to consecutive Sheffield Shield centuries over the last fortnight<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Khawaja<\/p>\n

Harris' Sheffield Shield ton against NSW included eight fours and a six.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Why Josh Cavallo's announcement matters<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The 29-year-old made several centuries for Leicestershire in English county cricket during this year's Australian winter.<\/p>\n

The first Test of the Ashes is scheduled to begin on December 8 at The Gabba.<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/em><\/strong> clicking here!<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Enormous uncertainty surrounds the prospect of Marcus Harris retaining his position as David Warner's opening partner for the first Ashes Test, but a timely century […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151548"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=151548"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151548\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":151550,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151548\/revisions\/151550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=151548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=151548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=151548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}