Matt Renshaw added to Australia squad for final Test

Wednesday, 28 March 2018 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Matt Renshaw has been added to the Australia squad for the fourth and final Test in South Africa, starting in Johannesburg on Friday, 30 March.

The call-up was necessitated after Steve Smith was suspended for one match following his role in the ball-tampering affair that threatened to overshadow his side’s 322-run loss in the Cape Town Test, which gave South Africa a 2-1 lead in the series.

Smith and his deputy David Warner were stood down from their positions as captain and vice-captain respectively for what turned out to be the last day of the Test, with Tim Paine taking over captaincy duties.

Cameron Bancroft, who was charged with altering the condition of the ball, was awarded three demerit points and fined 75% of his match fee after accepting the Level 2 charge.

Renshaw, the 21-year-old left-handed opener, fell out of favour with the selectors late last year after a poor run of formand was replaced for the Ashes by Bancroft. However, he has enjoyed a prolific domestic season since then.

His three hundreds in Queensland’s march to the final of the Sheffield Shield had kept him near the top of the run-scorers’ charts. He then hit the winning runs, finishing unbeaten on 81 off 83 balls, as Queensland took the title on Tuesday.

Renshaw, who made his Test debut against South Africa in Adelaide in November 2016, played the last of his 10 Tests against Bangladesh in Chittagong in Chittagong in September 2017.