Davey's done well this series, opined Harris

Since the loss in the third Test, a lot of the chatter in Australian media has been around the selection muddle, with David Warner being the focal point of that discussion. He got out in a similar fashion to Stuart Broad in both the innings of the third Test. The lanky English pacer has now dismissed him 17 times in Tests.

Should Warner face the axe, the only backup batter in the Australian squad is opener Marcus Harris. But, the 30 year old left-hander is not expecting a Test call-up any time soon.

"Davey's earned the right to pull the pin whenever he wants to pull the pin and he's done well this series," Harris said.

"England's not an easy place to open the batting and he and Uz have got us off to some good starts. So if I have to wait until then, so be it. But if something comes up earlier, I'm ready to go. Davey's obviously a bit of a lightning rod for opinion.

"Even if you're not getting the big runs that you want to get, if you can still contribute to the team in some way, shape or form, I think you're doing a job. But that's coming from an opening batter so I'm probably biased towards that."

He was given the option to go and play county cricket after the third Test, just like Michael Neser did for Glamorgan. But, he chose against that, and went on a golfing tour to Scotland with Mitch Marsh, Josh Hazlewood and Daniel Vettori. He felt that he had spent enough time in these conditions, and didn’t feel the necessity to get more game time. 

"I was given the option," Harris said. "I thought it would be good to have a couple of days off and get away from cricket altogether. I have been here since April 1 so it has been a pretty long tour. The training we can do now with how big the squad is as a collective, during the games is as good, if not better, than playing a game of cricket. I don't feel like I haven't had a lot of cricket.

"I feel like I am ready to go whenever that chance comes. Whether that is this tour or not, so be it. I am in a good place mentally and with life. Whenever it comes up, I'll be ready to go."

"Might have been a different story if I just came on the Ashes and hadn't played any county cricket. But personally, there hasn't been any issue for me."

Harris himself has a Test record to forget in English conditions. The 2019 Ashes tour was the last time Harris batted in England, and he mustered only 58 runs in six innings. 

Since then, Harris has spent some time honing his skills during the English summer. In ‘21, he made his county debut for Leicestershire, and has spent the last couple of seasons with Gloucestershire. He’s been more than decent in his performances at the county level, scoring at an average of 45.8 in 52 innings. 

The experience has made Harris a more assured batter. While he is confident about his batting ability, he still admits that opening in these conditions isn’t as straightforward as it seems. 

"I think it depends on the conditions and where you are," he said. "Like you saw in the subcontinent, it is probably the best time so to have someone destructive like Heady, he can open the batting there. But I think probably in England and in Australia, the way the wickets have been the last couple of years, and New Zealand, those sorts of wickets, it's more of a specialist position. And you want your destructive players like Greeny or Mitch or Travis to be coming in against a bit more of an older ball.

"Maybe those first two wickets were alright. Definitely, Edgbaston would have been okay, but I think like we saw at Lord's, whenever there were some overheads, and at Headingley, it was hard work. My experiences from county cricket are if you cop the wrong time of the day to open the batting, especially if you're a destructive batter, it's probably not ideal."

"I have been exposed to a lot more conditions," Harris said. "Since then I have been to Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and played three county seasons here. Being an overseas pro to county teams is a different experience to playing Shield cricket. I just feel more well-rounded. That series taught me a lot in 2019. At the time it didn't seem good, but I have probably benefited from it in the long haul.