Having impressed in Australia’s T20 World Cup run, Queensland batter Matthew Renshaw says his true ambition is to once again don the Baggy Green
Matt Renshaw says returning to the Test team remains his top priority despite having a career-best year in the limited-overs formats.
Renshaw, who turns 30 at the end of the week, became an all-format international over the summer, making his ODI debut against India in October and his T20I debut against Pakistan in January.
Those two events bookended his most productive Big Bash season to date in which he scored 444 runs for the Brisbane Heat which included a century against Perth Scorchers.
However, Renshaw is desperate to add to his 14 matches in the Baggy Green, the most recent of which came during Australia’s tour to India in 2023.
“When I was going through what I wanted to achieve in the preseason … I wouldn’t have told you that I would debut in two different formats,” Renshaw said to reporters at the announcement of Australia’s 2026-27 schedule at Gold Coast’s Burleigh Beach.
“It’s something (I’ll) be able to reminisce now having a bit of a break … to see how successful that year was.
“Trying to get back in the Test team is a priority of mine, but anytime you play for Australia is pretty special. And now to have played in the T20 World Cup is pretty awesome.”
The tall left-hander was added to Australia’s T20 World Cup squad despite having made his international debut only days earlier in Pakistan, but emerged as his side’s best performing batter with 37 against Ireland and 65 against Zimbabwe.
Although controversially left out of the XI for the decisive clash with Sri Lanka, which Australia lost, Renshaw’s stocks have risen dramatically in one of the few silver linings from a tournament the Aussies would otherwise prefer to forget.
He puts his recent success down to a “mindset shift” that he implemented over the pre-season that helped him enjoy his cricket more.
And while his mental clarity, combined with a few “little technical changes” have helped the Queenslander flourish in white-ball cricket, the flow-on effects have been a net positive for his longer-form game too.
“With my one-day cricket specifically, I’m able to manipulate the game a bit more,” Renshaw said.
“We’re seeing it a little bit more around the world, trying to change the way that bowlers are bowling.
“In the past in red-ball cricket, (as) the bowlers are locking in for top of off (stump), you’ve got to try and leave as well as you can. But now, just walking down the wicket changes the angle (and) gets him thinking what you’re trying to do.”
Renshaw, who became the 63rd man to represent Australia in all three formats, says he feels physically and mentally ready to become a full-time all-format player if the selectors give him the nod.
He will have a quiet off-season, opting against an overseas T20 deal or another county contract in the UK.
Australia’s next assignment is yet-to-be-announced back-to-back ODI and T20I tours of Pakistan and Bangladesh in late-May and early-June while the Test team will return to action in August when they host Bangladesh in Darwin and Mackay.
