If the Australian selectors show some gumption and keep Travis Head as a Test opener for the foreseeable future, it only solves half of their problem at the top of the order.

He would still need a reliable opening partner. 

The Aussie brain trust needs to bite the bullet and let Usman Khawaja know that he can either decide to call time on his career after back problems are now exacerbating his lack of runs. 

Or they will do it for him.
Even if they persist with him for another Test or until the end of the Ashes series – despite the mounting evidence to suggest he’s a spent force – Head should still be viewed as the best option for the team to open. 

Using the adage of what opposition teams would least like to see when the Aussies face the new ball, Head blazing away would be at the top of their list.

Jake Weatherald should be in the box seat to be Head’s opening accomplice. 
They go back a long way in the South Australian system before Weatherald switched to Tasmania a few years ago.

As good mates, they could become a modern version of the Matthew Hayden-Justin Langer lovefest, which was so prolific for Australia a couple of decades ago.

Counting against Weatherald is the fact that he is also seen as a strokeplayer – one of the reasons why chief selector George Bailey said they picked him for the first Test because he could up the tempo quicker than Khawaja, who was always more of an accumulator back when he was able to occupy the crease for lengthy stretches.

It does not particularly matter if Weatherald also scores at a brisk strike rate alongside Head – in their second-innings stand in Perth, he contributed 23 of their 75-run partnership.

But he was out to an aggressive pull shot, which he top-edged into his helmet to present a simple catch to Ben Duckett at cover.
He had already smacked Brydon Carse to the boundary two balls previously, and with the run rate rattling along at 6.45 in the 12th over, it would have been wiser for him to be more circumspect in the circumstances.

If he can’t become a reliable option, then Matt Renshaw is doing everything he can to get another crack at the Test team in his preferred position.

The Queenslander defied a strong Victorian bowling attack to lead his team to a seven-wicket win in a day-night Sheffield Shieldmatchh 112 at the Gabba earlier this week. 

After notching tons against Tasmania and Western Australia in the earlier rounds, he is banging down the door to play his first Test since the 2023 tour of India, where he was a fish out of water, briefly, in the middle order.

Renshaw is more of a traditional opener who is adept at letting as many deliveries go as possible in the early stages of an innings, which could weigh heavily in his favour if Head stays up top.

Head moving to opener would be terrible news for Sam Konstas’ hopes of getting back into the line-up.

Not that he is close to a recall at the moment after struggling this summer for NSW, but the rising star would have to almost entirely overhaul his tactics and technique if he wanted to be trusted with the role of Head’s opening partner.

Head admitted he “could have been out in the first over” of his epic 123 against England in Perth.

Australia could not have Konstas up the other end trying reverse ramps and scoops, so he would have to reinvent his game, which, to be honest, could end up being the best thing for him.

Victoria’s Campbell Kellaway has been talked up by his coach, former Test opener Chris Rogers, as a player who is ready to leap to the international arena. 

The 23-year-old missed out against Queensland, but he peeled off an impressive second-innings 147 to set up a win over Tassie last month. 

A first-class average of 32.37 and just three tons from 38 matches suggest he needs to do much more to be in consideration for a baggy green cap.

If the selectors are looking for a yin to Head’s yang, Henry Hunt is the kind of old-school opener who can take the shine off the new ball. 

At 28, the right-hander has plenty of battle scars from the Shield circuit, boasts a ton against the Vics this summer and is hard to remove once he is settled.

But the fact that five of his 10 scores for SA this season have been 12 or less, including three ducks, means he is not doing enough to demand a call-up.

It is worth noting that Josh Inglis opted to open the batting for the Cricket Australia XI against the England Lions at Lilac Hill this week.

The back-up keeper is a middle-order specialist but could also emerge as a potential opening option in the Test side, and he did those chances no harm in scoring 40 and an unbeaten 125 to guide the team to an eight-wicket win.

All of a sudden, the Australian selectors have plenty of choices for the two opening spots, but unfortunately for Khawaja, after an excellent 85-Test career, the 38-year-old stalwart is no longer one of them.