Tried and previously tested? New and possibly improved? But after Steve Smith’s dramatic shift up the order, probably not borrowed.

Australian selectors have themselves an old-fashioned clichéd conundrum to kick off the Test summer, with an opening slot to fill and a month to do so before India arrive boasting the Border-Gavaskar trophy Australia hasn’t held in a decade.

With Cameron Green sidelined through injury, Smith returns to No.4.

And in Smith’s place now? The tried, previously tested and found wanting, in Cameron Bancroft, Marcus Harris or Matt Renshaw?

Perhaps the new, prodigiously talented – and possibly an improvement – Sam Konstas?

Already, the idea of borrowing from elsewhere in the batting line-up once more – with a Travis Head or Mitch Marsh shuffling north – has been all-but scotched.

All of which drags all eyes to a handful of Sheffield Shield matches beginning on Sunday, two more Australia A outings at either end of the country, and then, an Indian attack boasting far more compelling credentials on Australian soil than most any touring side in recent times.

Selection chair George Bailey naturally turned to Bancroft and Harris on Monday as leading opening options, pointing to their consistency at state level. Critics naturally counter with the caveat in Bailey’s comments “they’ve both had a look at Test cricket as well”.

As Australia A’s leading openers against Indian counterparts in two four-day games, the floor is all theirs, particularly given Renshaw’s omission points to a slide down the pecking........

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