Beau Webster v Jake Weatherald: Ashes spot on the line as Aussie hopefuls eye First Test

The denouement to the great Australian bat-off is likely to come the previous week, and across the other side of the Yarra. It’s those four big days at … Junction Oval, when Victoria takes on Tasmania in the final Sheffield Shield round before Australia’s Ashes squad is finalised.

But here’s the curious bit: the two combatants seemingly left standing will be on the same side for the finale.

In a scenario that would have seemed highly improbable a couple of years ago, the race for the last spot in Australia’s first Test XI is probably between Tasmanian teammates Jake Weatherald and Beau Webster.

A case of like versus like this is not. Weatherald is a dashing left-handed opener, Webster is a tall crafty No. 6 who bowls medium pace.

Neither is anything like an overnight sensation. Weatherald has been on the domestic scene for the best part of a decade but as recently as 19 months ago he was on the lookout for a new home after being unable to cement a spot in the Tassie Shield side in his first season after moving from South Australia.

Had the Tigers not held him to his contract, there’s a reasonable chance he would instead be playing for Victoria, rather than playing for an Ashes spot in a match against the Vics.

Webster has been around state cricket even longer yet it was only his well-documented move from off-spin to seam-up bowling a few seasons back that helped catapult him into Australia’s Test XI at the start of the year. That and a stack of middle-order runs both for Tassie and in English county cricket.

And yet there is unlikely to be room for both of them in Australia’s side for the Ashes opener.

For that they can blame Marnus Labuschagne. If there had been any doubt remaining about whether the former No.1 ranked Test batter would be part of the Aussie XI in the Perth Test, it was brutally extinguished by the rampaging Queensland captain who scored 159 at a strike rate of better than 80.

For all those who had sniggered at three early-season centuries scored at Allan Border Field, Labuschagne’s fourth came at Adelaide Oval against the defending Shield champions, albeit missing Brendan Doggett and Henry Thornton.

This was a domineering innings, and should be the most welcome of sights for Australian selectors. A firing Labuschagne – who at 31 ought to be near the peak of his powers – gives the Aussies a dramatically different complexion.

Labuschagne’s unbreakable grip means that six of the top seven spots are decided. The order hinges largely on who the panel picks to be the seventh.

Though Sam Konstas is due to bat again for NSW against Victoria in the sides’ low-scoring Shield duel at the Junction, his muddled start to the season has all but ended any chance of the tyro holding his position in the Test team.

Likewise the hopes of Marcus Harris had already largely faded before he departed in the dim St Kilda light, picking out Blake Nikitaras at point to end a painstaking 80-ball 20 during which he was put down on three by gloveman Matt Gilkes off Nathan Lyon.

Weatherald was metres away from joining Labuschagne as a Thursday centurion only to hole out to deep backward square leg from a Cameron Gannon short delivery on 94. But in a match in which ball has had the better of bat, Weatherald’s innings at almost a run a ball was a reminder of his ability to dramatically alter a game’s trajectory.

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Having belted more than 900 runs last season and then starred for Australia A, he has three unconverted half-centuries to start this campaign.

Webster conversely, has been managed conservatively by Cricket Australia following a relatively minor ankle injury ahead of the Shield opener. He remains sidelined, but is a likely starter against Victoria. On Wednesday his stocks rose in absentia amid a host of batting failures.

On Thursday, a star turn from his teammate ensured all roads will lead to the Junction in the final week of October.