India’s New Delhi According to the ICC official website, Marcus Harris, Australia’s left-hand opener, has a better chance of being selected in the national squad for the next World Test Championship final against South Africa after his success in the County Championship.

Ahead of next month’s one-off Test final against South Africa, Harris’ elegant innings of 121 in the first innings of Lancashire’s four-day match against Northamptonshire at Northampton’s County Ground served as a timely reminder of the left-hander’s skill.

With 749 runs, Harris’ third century of the County season puts the 32-year-old at the top of the Division 2 of the County Championship’s leading run-scorer lists. After his most recent batting exploits, his average is now over 80.

Less than a month before the World Test Championship Final at Lord’s begins on June 11, Harris top-scored once again in the second innings of the match with 43 as Lancashire lost to Northamptonshire by 70 runs. His batting form will not go unnoticed.

There seems to be a gap at the top of the Australian batting order as Pat Cummins’ team looks for the best combination to help them defend the mace they won at The Oval two years ago, even though Harris hasn’t played a Test match for Australia since the beginning of 2022 and was left out of the 15-man squad for the 2023 World Test Championship Final.

During Australia’s most recent Test tour of Sri Lanka, Travis Head, ranked seventh on the ICC Men’s Test Batting Rankings, started with veteran Usman Khawaja. However, the aggressive left-hander is anticipated to return to his preferred position at No. 5 for the one-time Test match against the Proteas.

While veteran No. 3 Marnus Labuschagne recently announced he would play two matches in the County Championship before the World Test Championship Final and could also be considered as Khawaja’s partner, teenager Sam Konstas showed promise at times during the Border-Gavaskar series with India over the Australian summer and could be considered for the opening berth.

Beau Webster and Cameron Green may be fighting for a spot in the middle order after showing some encouraging performances in the County Championship, but Harris’ recent performance suggests that he will be included in Australia’s team for the World Test Championship Final.

Harris’ timely batting performances placed him in the running for at least a berth in Australia’s squad of 15, which will be submitted to the ICC over the next few days.