Never seen myself as competing with Renshaw: Burns

MELBOURNE: Tim Paine is not part of Australia’s selection panel but he will have the chance to cast his eye over the new faces in the Test squad if he so wishes when the CA XI take on the Sri Lankans in the day-night tour match starting in Hobart on Thursday (today).

The contest has been elevated in significance by the inclusion of the trio of batsmen called up to the Test squad - Joe Burns, Matt Renshaw and the uncapped Will Pucovski - alongside incumbent Marcus Labuschange. Paine is back at home, having resisted the temptation to play in the Big Bash in the small gap between facing India and Sri Lanka, and was at Bellerive Oval on Wednesday doing some work with fellow Tasmania player and CA XI wicketkeeper Jake Doran.

The three-day match, which won’t have first-class status to allow the Sri Lankans to utilise their squad, is being billed as a bat-off for three places in the final XI for the first Test at the Gabba.Burns, who captains the CA XI, will open with Queensland team-mate Renshaw in what looks like a contest to partner Marcus Harris at the top of the order.

Burns’ Sheffield Shield numbers for the season are far superior - an average of 47.20 compared to Renshaw’s 19.90 - while Renshaw was warned by Justin Langer not to take his eye off the ball after dips in form when he had previously been earmarked for the Test side.

Burns played down the potential of the match becoming a very individual affair with Test places on the line.“The fact we work together doing the same role, building a partnership as an opener pair, you are just happy to see team-mates going well,” he said.

“Hopefully we can both get the opportunity, I’ve never seen myself as competing with Renners. It’s just how we can get the job done for Queensland.”There will also be much interest around Pucovski, who has played just eight first-class matches before his first Test call-up.