New multi-format Tasmanian captain Jordan Silk has revealed that he believes Tasmanian openers Caleb Jewell and Tim Ward could be the next players to open for Australia.
Jewell and Ward both sat at the top of the order in all eight games for Tasmania last season, and churned out impressive results.
Ward scored 553 runs at almost 40, while Jewell had 508 at 36, with the duo both in the top ten for top run-scorers throughout the season.
Speaking on Cricket Australia's The Unplayable Podcast, Silk deferred questions about his own possible push for a run at the Australian side after a season where he shifted to the middle order and averaged 57.11 with the bat.
The question on Australia's next opening batsmen comes as Usman Khawaja and David Warner both edge towards an eventual retirement.
"There are some great options in Australia moving forward. I love the look of our two left-hand opening batters now in Caleb Jewel and Tim Ward who are both coming off pretty good seasons last year. I think they may be the forgotten people in all this discussion around who our next openers are.
"I'm really hoping these two are long-term openers for Tasmania and even beyond that for Australia."
Silk also revealed that his shift down the order, where he bats in the white ball game, helped with training, but that he wasn't sure if he was entirely comfortable with the move or not yet.
"I don't like waiting around too much, but it's something I've had to get used to," Silk said about moving down the order.
"I remember speaking about this before, about Wadey really pushing that boat for me to move into the middle. He said it makes sense with what you do in white ball, to be able to come out and do that in a red ball game, to go out and merge the two.
"From a training perspective, it made a lot more sense as well. There was a lot more clarity around what I was doing."
Silk, who will captain the Tigers in all three formats this year, opens his, and the state's season, on Wednesday against South Australia in Queensland.
