Matt Renshaw Stays Calm Amid Ashes Talk, Focuses on Cricket and Family

Matt Renshaw is enjoying a refreshing outlook towards cricket – and life. The Australian opener, who used to be obsessed with the scorecards and player selections is now looking at his game and his young family, and the Ashes speculation is now in the back seat.

The unemployment of Matt Renshaw has brought him back to the national limelight as he was surprised to be recalled to the ODI team against India, but the left-hander stays quiet. I had to Google the schedule and the location in which the games were going on, he said smiling. As soon as I have the rest of it in readiness, the cricket will look after himself.

Having been a 20-year-old sensation that made his debut against South Africa in 2016 and scored 184 against Pakistan in his fourth Test, Renshaw has not had an easy ride. He has made four Tests since (his last in Delhi almost three years ago), and has been dropped off the Test side after a torturous subcontinent run in 2017. Renshaw is now simply in the frame to open the Ashes series with Usman Khawaja against England as Sam Konstas is under the microscope following a dismal tour to West Indies.

But Matt Renshaw is not allowing that possibility to characterize him. He described that there are moments in his career when he arrives after a Shield game and, clearly, all the Shield games are on at the same time, and you are checking the scorecard, you are seeing different names, how they are performing. “Now … I do not know who made the runs in other games. I was merely fretting about our own match, and making it to win Queensland.

Fatherhood has made a lot of impact in the mindset of Matt Renshaw. He has a two-year-old daughter and a five-month-old son whose worldview is out of the game. I go home now and I have to change nappies and put kids to bed, attempt to get screaming babies to calm down, he said. One of my validations is that it is now, not whether I receive a Test recall.

This new balance has also materialized into performance as the good domestic performance has given him another opportunity in international cricket. It is not my only reason to be here at cricket. When everything is in order the cricket will look after itself.

Matt Renshaw story is a reminder that talent is not enough, perspective, patience, and balance can do more not only to make a player better on the field, but happier off the field as well.

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