Welcome to season three of the Great Australian Bat-Off.

Australian selectors have confirmed the opening four rounds of the Sheffield Shield, which gets underway on Saturday, will carry plenty of weight in picking the Test side’s top-order for the blockbuster Ashes series.

Despite a recent form slump, Usman Khawaja’s position is all but secured for the five-Test campaign, but the identity of his opening partner remains a mystery.

And there are at least ten candidates in the running.

It’s become a recurring trend over the last few summers. Two years ago, all eyes were on the Sheffield Shield’s opening batters ahead of David Warner’s looming Test retirement, with Steve Smith promoted to the top of the order in a short-lived experiment.

Nathan McSweeney won the second season of the Great

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