Marcus Harris

The defining moment of his early career was the 2014/15 Sheffield Shield final against Victoria at the Bellerive Oval. Harris compiled 81 and 158 and was named Man of the Match, yet the contest ended in a draw that handed Victoria the trophy, and the national selectors did not take much notice. A lean spell followed, and with a first-class average of 28.43, a return his coach at the time, Justin Langer, considered poor for a player of his ability, Harris left Western Australia for Victoria ahead of the 2016/17 Shield campaign.

That switch proved decisive. A heavy run of scoring early in a Shield season earned him a call-up to a struggling Australian team for the home Test series against India, and he received his Baggy Green in 2018. Langer, by then in charge of the national side, was once again his coach, and Harris looked at ease in the Test setup during a difficult period for Australian cricket.

The compact left-to-right opener, a grafter by nature, collected two half-centuries in that first series against a disciplined Indian attack, though Australia could not avoid embarrassment overall. His maiden Test fifty, in Perth, laid the foundation for a win that squared the series. Against Sri Lanka he repeatedly got himself in without going on to a big score. He was named in the squad for the 2019 Ashes tour.