Australia's reserve opener Marcus Harris is resigned to the fact that he may not play in the Ashes, praising David Warner for his performances despite twin failures in the Headingley Test.
Harris, 30, is the only specialist reserve batter currently in the squad after Matt Renshaw was released following the second Test at Lord's. But he is not expecting to play a part in the series unless there is an injury to one of Australia's top five batters.
Since Australia's loss at Headingley, all the selection talk has revolved around trying to fit Cameron Green back into the team after Mitchell Marsh made himself indispensable following his stunning opening-day century and crucial wickets, having replaced Green when he was withdrawn due to a hamstring niggle.
Warner has been mooted publicly as the man who could make way given his continued struggles against Stuart Broad. But Green, and others within the Australian team, have tempered suggestions that either he, Marsh or Travis Head could be viable options to open the batting at Old Trafford.
Harris echoed those sentiments and acknowledged that he is unlikely to be considered until after Warner's planned Test swansong in January next year, given that Warner and Usman Khawaja have produced three 50-plus opening stands in the series so far while England's opening duo of Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett have managed just one.
"Davey's earned the right to pull the pin whenever he wants to pull the pin and he's done well this series," Harris said.
"England's not an easy place to open the batting and him and Uz have got us off to some good starts. So if I have to wait until then, so be it. But if something comes up earlier, I'm ready to go. Davey's obviously a bit of a lightning rod for opinion.
"Even if you're not getting the big runs that you want to get, if you can still contribute to the team in some way, shape or form, I think you're doing a job. But that's coming from an opening batter so I'm probably biased towards that."
Harris was called upon midway through the 2019 Ashes series and found the challenge every bit as difficult as Warner, making just 58 runs in six innings.
But Harris has accrued three years' worth of County Championship experience since then and has built an impressive first-class record in England, averaging 45.83 from 52 innings with nine centuries, including two this season for Gloucestershire.
Given his experience in English conditions, Harris cautioned against asking a middle-order batter to open the batting in a Test match in England.
"I think it depends on the conditions and where you are," he said. "Like you saw in the subcontinent, it is probably the best time so to have someone destructive like Heady, he can open the batting there. But I think probably in England and in Australia, the way the wickets have been the last couple of years, and New Zealand, those sorts of wickets, it's more of a specialist position. And you want your destructive players like Greeny or Mitch or Travis to be coming in against a bit more of an older ball.
"Maybe those first two wickets were alright. Definitely, Edgbaston would have been okay, but I think like we saw at Lord's, whenever there were some overheads, and at Headingley, it was hard work. My experiences from county cricket [are] if you cop the wrong time of the day to open the batting, especially if you're a destructive batter, it's probably not ideal."
Harris is strong in his belief that he is a much-improved player compared to both his last England tour in 2019 and his last Test opportunity in January 2022.
"I have been exposed to a lot more conditions," Harris said. "Since then I have been to Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and played three county seasons here. Being an overseas pro to county teams is a different experience to playing Shield cricket. I just feel more well-rounded. That series taught me a lot in 2019. At the time it didn't seem good, but I have probably benefited from it in the long haul.
"I feel like I am ready to go whenever that chance comes. Whether that is this tour or not, so be it. I am in a good place mentally and with life. Whenever it comes up, I'll be ready to go."
Harris has not played since making an unbeaten 122 for Gloucestershire against Durham on May 21, with the attack featuring Test bowlers Matthew Potts and Ajaz Patel.
He was given the option of playing county cricket last week to get some middle time under his belt, as Michael Neser did for Glamorgan, but he opted to go on a golf trip to Scotland with Marsh, Josh Hazlewood, and Australia bowling coach Daniel Vettori.
"I got given the option," Harris said. "I thought it would be good to have a couple of days off and get away from cricket altogether. I have been here since April 1 so it has been a pretty long tour. The training we can do now with how big the squad is as a collective, during the games is as good, if not better, than playing a game of cricket. I don't feel like I haven't had a lot of cricket.
"Might have been a different story if I just came on the Ashes and hadn't played any county cricket. But personally, there hasn't been any issue for me."