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Australia v South Africa Test series: The perils of making too much of a Test debut

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When analysing the first innings of Australia's three batting debutants in Adelaide, the perils of overhyping a maiden appearance are worth remembering. The cautionary tale, in this regard, is the "Quiney nine", the debut innings of Victoria's Rob Quiney in Brisbane four years ago.

The Quiney nine drew rave reviews after the left-hander looked all class in a 14-minute innings against South Africa before he hooked Morne Morkel all but over the rope for six, missing it, as Maxwell Smart would say, by that much. Two matches later, Quiney was out of the team.

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A patient century from Usman Khawaja ensured Australia will go into day three of the third Test against South Africa in Adelaide with a 48-run lead.

This reporter was one of those who rhapsodised over the Quiney nine and will take an early guilty plea rather than re-examine the evidence. In extenuation, that was a rain-affected match, little else was happening on the day, and the modest everyman Quiney was a sentimental favourite. But the Quiney Nine was one of those outbreaks of debutant fever when a great deal was whipped up from very little.

There is no hurry to contrive a "Renshaw 10", as it seems certain that Queensland's left-handed opening batsman will have many chances to improve on his first effort.

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For the 20-year-old Matt Renshaw to have withstood South Africa's new-ball attack for an hour on Thursday evening, with a blind date in Usman Khawaja as his opening partner, was meritorious in itself. Renshaw looked like a real opening batsman, leaving the ball judiciously and seeming to have plenty of time when he chose to play. His initial resilience played some part in laying the ground for Khawaja's century and Australia's 124-run first-innings lead.

Observers like to think we can intuit a natural Test cricketer from the way he carries himself. It's probably baloney, but what the heck: the tall, easy-moving Renshaw has a certain something, whether at first slip or opening the batting.

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His first innings ended after a spell from Kyle Abbott that would have found out most Test batsmen. No disgrace there. It will take time, failure and, history suggests, periods in and out of the team before Renshaw fully establishes himself as a Test opening batsman, but the impression he has created in Adelaide suggests no need to get carried away with a Renshaw 10, as there will be more substantial innings to dwell upon.

Peter Handscomb also showed that certain something, although what that something was will take time to pin down. Technically, Handscomb's approach is a gift to impressionists, a journey back to the heyday of eccentric batting styles. To the fast bowlers he was maximising the length of the pitch, taking guard with both feet behind the popping crease. You would say he was a back-foot player but for the fact that his back foot had nowhere to go. In his address, he turned his wrists inside-out to open the face of his bat as if deciding, halfway through the bowler's run-up, to mark centre.

Then he raised the bat to wait, baseball-style, for the ball, which he generally treated with calm and decisiveness. When he gets into a partnership with Steve Smith, it will be hard to know where to look. But, as with Smith, the activity going on between the ears seemed to be in the right order. As long as Handscomb knew what he was doing out there, nothing else mattered. He had a worrying tendency to try to cut anything, which highlights how far that shot has fallen from favour among Test batsmen. But he made it work during a proficient half-century, which was cut short when he was beaten by the relentless Abbott.

Handscomb did have the advantage of starting his innings during the afternoon, and the contrast with Nic Maddinson highlights the great part luck has to play in Test cricket debuts.

Callum Ferguson was no doubt thinking along these lines after having to start his career amid two collapses on a green snake of a wicket in Hobart. What he would have given to have a second chance on a sunny afternoon on his home ground. Instead, his start may have been his end.

Maddinson, similarly, had to contend with the most difficult baptism, coming to bat in evening light against the new-ball wiles of Abbott and Kagiso Rabada. Whether the ball was difficult to see or just difficult to play, Maddinson's inauspicious quarter-hour will pose another of cricket's eternal tests.

It will take time, failure and, history suggests, periods in and out of the team before Renshaw fully establishes himself as a Test opening batsman.

A Test debut is a memorable moment, but for the man in the middle, the challenge is not to remember it but to wipe it from the mind and think about the next ball.

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