Jake Weatherald dropped as Australia recall Matthew Renshaw for second Bangladesh Test

Selectors announced in a short statement on Tuesday that Australia had dropped opener Jake Weatherald and added Matthew Renshaw to a 13-man squad for the second and final Test against Bangladesh in Mackay, which starts on Saturday, following Australia’s shock defeat in Darwin.

The 31-year-old Weatherald scored 23 and 0 in the first Test, a match Bangladesh won by nine wickets, leaving him with a Test average of 20.36 across six appearances and increasing scrutiny over his place at the top of the order. He had gone into the Darwin Test in his home town with doubts about his selection after breaking into the Test set-up as a late‑blooming debutant at the start of the 2025-26 Ashes series.

Australia head coach Andrew McDonald, speaking after the Darwin Test, said: "There was some change to Jake in terms of where he lined up and his movement patterns." He added: "It’s always hard to critique small sample sizes on whether it holds up. He dragged one on and drove at one in the first innings and was dismissed. It is probably harder with that smaller sample size to say, ‘yep, that’s going to hold up under pressure’."

Renshaw comes into the squad having last played the 14th and most recent of his Tests in February 2023, against India in Delhi. He enjoyed a strong domestic campaign for Queensland, scoring 499 runs in six Sheffield Shield matches at an average of 49.90, and the 30-year-old has been a regular in Australia’s white-ball sides, playing nine one-day internationals and nine T20s over the past year.

There were no other changes to the Australia squad, and Marnus Labuschagne, who returned 31 and 1 in Darwin, kept his place despite similar concerns over form; he was told on Monday by McDonald he needs "big runs" if he is to retain his place at No 3. Labuschagne will have another chance to repay the selectors’ faith when the second Test gets under way in Mackay on Saturday.