All-rounder Beau Webster knows there is every chance he could watch the first Ashes Test at Perth from the pavilion, yet he is trying not to overthink the selectors’ conundrum.
George Bailey has already promised that Webster will be in the squad – “everyone can relax.” That, however, is not the same as a spot in the XI. With Cameron Green due to bowl again, Marnus Labuschagne back in touch and questions lingering over the opening pair, Australia’s batting order feels unusually fluid.
“We’ve obviously got a potential hole around the top of the order there, and see who fills that,” Webster said after day one of Tasmania’s Sheffield Shield match against Victoria. “If they see me as a pure middle-order [batter], then I’m probably going to get squeezed out. That is what it is. I hope I’m still in the conversation, certainly as a batter only, and if not, if it’s just the makeup of the team I’ll plug the way back in first-class cricket. There’s a there’s a lot of Test cricket coming up in the next two years. I hope I’ll be thereabouts.”
Webster, 31, has been Australia’s sole all-rounder for the past seven Tests after replacing Mitchell Marsh in January. In that period he has averaged 34.63 with the bat – four fifties in 12 attempts – while contributing eight wickets at 23.25 and pulling off a dozen sharp catches, mostly in the slips. Those numbers hardly scream “drop me”, yet selection rarely happens in a vacuum.
Green’s return to full bowling fitness would allow the selectors to shift him back to No. 6, freeing up a top-order slot. If they also prefer Labuschagne at No. 3 and stick with Sam Konstas – or introduce another specialist opener – the squeeze is obvious: six places, seven likely candidates. Webster accepts the arithmetic.
“I’d obviously love to be in the XI,” he added. “I think I’ve got a lot to contribute there, and especially this Ashes series, I feel like I’m playing the best cricket of my life at the moment. So I certainly want to be there. Sometimes it’s the make-up of the team and the balance and the overs and who bats where. It feels like this series has probably got more questions over that than any before.”
An ankle injury kept Webster out of Tasmania’s opening two Shield fixtures, fuelling outside speculation about his fitness and rhythm. He returned in Melbourne this week, taking the new ball and finishing with 1 for 26 from 12 purposeful overs. The right-hander admitted to “a bit of rust”, hardly surprising after a six-week lay-off, but was otherwise encouraged by how the ankle held up.
Former Australia quick Ryan Harris, now a television pundit, believes the selectors will favour continuity. “Webster hasn’t put a foot wrong,” Harris said on SEN Radio. “If Green’s bowling is still being managed, it makes sense to keep Beau in there.” Conversely, ex-captain Mark Taylor thinks the opening berth may force a rethink. “If they pick a second specialist opener, someone has to miss out,” he told Nine. “Webster is vulnerable simply because of where he bats.”
From Webster’s perspective, there is little to do except score runs and keep delivering overs for Tasmania. The domestic calendar offers another Shield match before the Perth Test, time enough, he hopes, to remind selectors of the balance he brings: a reliable middle-order bat, a fourth-seamer capable of holding an end, and a safe pair of hands in the cordon.
Selection discussions are seldom tidy, and Webster is well aware good players lose out when line-ups are shuffled. He remains philosophical, emphasising that the coming 24 months include tours to the sub-continent and a home summer against India – plenty of opportunities if he keeps performing.
“Sometimes it’s just timing,” he said with a shrug, packing away his kit as the Junction Oval lights dimmed. “All I can do is keep my name in front of them.”
For now, the wait begins. A place in the squad is secured; a place in the XI is anything but.
