Matt Renshaw was dealt the hand nearly every great Australian batsman has been given and he has been told to follow their path if he is to get another crack at Test cricket.
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Chairman of selectors Trevor Hohns and Test captain Steve Smith have challenged Renshaw to fight his way back into the XI through weight of runs after the opener was dumped from the Test squad on Friday.
Despite a promising start to his Test career, Renshaw has paid the price for a poor beginning to the home summer, replaced by the uncapped Cameron Bancroft.
Former players Ricky Ponting, Steve Waugh, Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer are among those who have been dumped early in their careers only to fight back and become legends of the Australian game. It's too early to tell if Renshaw can do the same, but at 21 time is on his side to learn more about his game away from the spotlight.
Renshaw won plenty of admirers with his solid performances at home and in India, but selectors did not believe the pressure of an Ashes series was the right environment for a young player, however promising, to fight his way back to form.
Barring injury or a horror run from Bancroft, Renshaw's next chance will not come before the tour of South Africa. The Queenslander has two more games before the Sheffield Shield pauses for the Big Bash and possibly one or two after that, to score the runs needed to book a ticket on the plane.
Hohns said Bancroft had provided the template for Renshaw's way back while Smith has told the youngster the quicker he recovers from his axing the more beneficial it will be to his bid for a recall.
"The way Matthew is playing at the moment - we don't consider it ideal to inject him into the first Test versus England," Hohns said.
"Matthew is highly regarded by us a selection panel and we certainly see him as a long-term player for Australia. We'd ideally like him to go back to Sheffield Shield cricket, re-evaluate the way he's playing and belt the door down with runs and demand selection - as Cameron Bancroft has just done."
Glenn Maxwell and Hilton Cartwright were both discussed by selectors, Hohns said, but Shaun Marsh had performed "much, much better and demanded to be chosen".
Cartwright's runs dried up after the first round but Maxwell can consider himself unlucky after averaging 40 compared to Marsh's 39 in the shield. His bizarre dismissal for 60 and a dubious lbw for 64 in the second round proved costly.
"We came up with the fact they haven't performed well enough in the early rounds of the competition this year," Hohns said. "As I suggested, they were going to be crucial rounds for everybody and everybody knew there were positions up for grabs so it was up to them to perform and present their case to us."
Matthew Wade said before he learned of his axing his chances of a Test comeback would be slim if dropped, while Peter Nevill's future is also bleak having been in the box seat to return to the baggy green.
