Aus vs Ban 2026 – Matt Renshaw, Oliver Peake, Josh Inglis are among the Australian batting options

Inglis is the stand-in batsman (and stand-in wicket-keeper) in the current team and is seen as a valuable utility player who can fill various roles. He has five Tests to his name and made a century on debut against Sri Lanka in Galle, but with a highest score of 32 in six innings since. He is not a realistic option to open, so there will have to be a change in the middle order for him to find a role.

Renshaw is likely to be the next captain out of the order having trained with the Test team ahead of the Bangladesh series and has made a strong impression in the white-ball setup. He has played 14 Tests, most recently in 2023, and had a top score of 184 in his fourth foray before dropping out. After a stint in the middle order with Queensland a few seasons ago, he has now returned to the top and averaged 49.90 with a three-hundred in the Sheffield Shield last season, which was a remarkable comeback.

Patterson, an experienced 33-year-old first-class cricketer, has gone through some tough times to be able to participate in the conversation. He played two Tests against Sri Lanka in 2019, scoring a century in the second Test, and carries an average of 144.00 which he would do well to maintain if another opportunity arises. He averaged 36.41 for NSW in the Shield last season, with two centuries, and had a half-century for the CA XI against Bangladesh earlier this month, so he’s played some cricket recently.

The 19-year-old is a very exciting prospect, having already played four ODIs, but averaging 26.00 from 13 first-class matches, albeit within the marks of his talent. The name mentioned by Ricky Ponting (who carries a lot of weight around Australian cricket), it is only a matter of time before he plays Test cricket, but it will be a gamble now.

A left-handed, left-arm batsman, Connolly has become an interesting story. He has played just 13 first-class matches, and has no century, one of those matches being his Test debut in early 2025 against Sri Lanka. After a poor run earlier this year, he once again returned to white-ball form in the Indian Premier League and hit a brilliant 149 in the ODI series against Bangladesh in June. He still looks a long way from the Test side unless the selectors take a punt.

In a similar class to Beck among the next generation, although Kellaway is not as powerful with 44 first-class matches, which brought home three centuries. He is another one earmarked for the future of Test, and there are some (including Ponting) who feel he should have come in now instead of Weatherald. He held up well against a quick spell from Mitchell Starc last season and made runs for the Premier’s XI and Australia A against England Lions. He scored a duck for CA XI against Bangladesh.

Among Australia’s new openers, the most memorable innings (Travis Head aside) came from Konstas when he beat Jasprit Bumrah on Boxing Day at the MCG in 2024. But he is at the bottom of the pecking order after a tough tour of the West Indies last season and a 2025-26 domestic runner-up where, after a century in the final tour before the BBL, he was unable to convert the start into something more substantial. He was caught at the leg side for a single while playing for the CA XI.

Elite sport is unforgiving, but it is as if McSweeney has been given a hard time. He was given the opening duty against Bumrah when he was not a specialist in that role, and was let go after three matches (after playing an important innings in Adelaide) when the selectors called on Konstas to play. Unfortunately for McSweeney, he averaged just 28.05 last season, which didn’t require a second look, but he did have three centuries at 49.08 for Northamptonshire in the County Championship, albeit in Division Two.