‘I’m not a doctor’: Aussie rift rumour lingers as Renshaw responds to Smith report, Marnus future

Matt Renshaw declared after Australia’s strongest batting performance on this South African tour that he is neither a doctor nor a curator. But he confirmed his status as Australia’s incumbent opener and clearly remains a very loyal mate.

How else to explain his assessment of under-fire Australian No.3 Marnus Labuschagne after his nightmare tour of South Africa continued on Wednesday in the series-deciding Test, with the Queenslander the only batsman not to score.

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While every other Australian batsman including Renshaw pillaged an ailing Proteas attack to give Australia the upper-hand leading into the third day, Labuschagne’s lament with the bat continued when he failed to score.

The Queenslander looked tense as he walked to the nets in the morning and was more nervous at the crease as he tentatively pushed and prodded to off-spinner Simon Harmer before falling for a five-ball duck.

Renshaw, who set the tone for Australia on a day it finished at 4-330 in response to South Africa’s 329 on Tuesday with a strong 74, was at the other end for Labuschagne’s demise.

The 32-year-old was understood to be in reasonable spirits at the end of the day, but few would have taken any joy in the way he scurried from Newlands with his career in peril.

But Renshaw, having worn body blows from both Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen when leading the Australian batting order with distinction, was prepared to stand strong from his fellow Bull after stumps as well.

“Obviously Marn is a great mate of mine,” Renshaw said.

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“Obviously as batters, we can get out at any point. Unfortunately, today was a short one for him. But the way that he’s been moving around, what I’ve seen the first two Tests, he’s been moving probably as well as I’ve seen him bat.

“Unfortunately, sometimes we need a bit of luck, and that’s cricket. But the way that he’s going, I think that it’s very close. It’s just letting it happen.”

But given the way Australia’s makeshift batting order batted today, producing several of the partnerships captain Pat Cummins has been calling for, it is possible Labuschagne might not bat again for his nation if the feast continues on Thursday.

As for Renshaw not being either a curator - he has no idea how the Newlands pitch will continue to play - or a doctor, the latter related to the absence of Steve Smith.

A statement was released by Cricket Australia late in the day clarifying the champion’s neck injury after chatter flared about a possible rift in the Aussies dressing room related to Smith’s late withdrawal just before play began on Monday.

CA said the 37-year-old underwent scans that revealed a cervical facet joint injury, but there is confidence the champion No.4 will be available to play New Zealand in the series beginning in December once he has recovered from the next complaint.

Despite the chatter, Renshaw said the late change did not unduly unsettle the Australians aside from figuring out who would replace Smith in the slips given Beau Webster had also been dropped for the match.

“I think the parties knew what was happening. I’m not a physio or a doctor, so I didn’t really pay too much attention to what was going on,” Renshaw said.

“It was more just whatever we could do for the team. Probably the one thing that changed was the slips cordon and how we were managing that, but that was about it, especially when we were bowling first.”

Luck is a factor in cricket and Labuschagne is out of it and runs. But the Australians had not necessarily enjoyed the best of fortune in this series either.

Cameron Green, Josh Inglis and Smith have all missed matches due to injury, while Josh Hazlewood missed much of South Africa’s resurgent innings in Gqeberha due to a dodgy prawn and has not quite had the same zip since.

But the luck was in for Australia at an opportune time on several fronts on Wednesday, both with the batting order and with some issues for the Proteas.

Renshaw and Travis Head combined for 58 before the latter continued a recent trend of chopping on, though this time to the off-spinner Harmer, with the pair riding their luck early before setting the tone for a quality display from the tourists.

Cameron Green, Josh Inglis and Alex Carey all batted well to post half-centuries, with the wicketkeepers doing well to survive and then thrive against the second new ball late in the day and retain their wickets at stumps.

There were some close calls and lucky breaks, but a top-order playing without Steve Smith and featuring an out-of-form Labuschagne batted judiciously before upping the ante once settled in.

There will be changes to the order in coming months given series against New Zealand and India follow leading into the Ashes next year, but Renshaw performed like the natural opener he is and Green and Inglis fared well on their return.

Helping their cause was the fact Kagiso Rabada was suffering from a stomach complaint, while the world’s new No.1 ranked Test bowler Marco Jansen required treatment for stiffness late in the day, though he bowled with venom at times.

Gerald Coetzee, who was brought in to replace the injured Anrich Nortje, did not pose the same menacing threat that the sidelined Protea had proven in the first two Tests.

Prior to play, the Australians huddled together in the nets and Renshaw said they vowed to fight through challenging periods, which they did with distinction.

“We know that we knew that they were going to come hard through periods, and it was just about building partnerships,” he said.

“We’ve sort of hinted at some partnerships over the first two Tests, probably more so with the bowlers, so it was just about the batters trying to build some partnerships out there and fortunately today we had a couple of good ones.”

Renshaw was initially recalled to the Test team as an opener after Jake Weatherald was dropped for the Mackay Test against Bangladesh in August but then excelled at No.5 in a matchwinning performance in Durban.

But with Green recovering from an abdominal injury, he went back to the top of the order and demonstrated his capacity to blunt the new ball against the formidable duo of Rabada and Jansen.

“I think as long as I keep trusting what I’m trying to do, seeing that opening is a challenge that I’m looking forward to. I’ve done it my whole career, so it’s not like I’ve never opened the batting,” he said.

“I came here thinking that I was going to open the batting for three Tests and fortunately I had a little bit of a sleep in at five, and now coming back to opening, it was just about trying to be really positive and trusting that the stuff I did in the first two Tests could relate to opening the batting.”