Australian cricket’s revolving door used to be a spinner. Now, it leads to the first drop.  

Glenn Maxwell’s unlikely promotion to the Test team’s pivotal first drop batting slot evidences Australia’s latest problem – number three.

Maxwell, expected to bat in the position in the current Test against Pakistan, will be the 12th player in the role since Shaun Marsh made a century on debut against Sri Lanka in 2011 – when Ricky Ponting slid to number four.

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And none have been able to fill the mighty shoes of Ponting, who continued a fine history of number three batsmen featuring the likes of David Boon, Dean Jones, and Greg and Ian Chappell.

The recent list is a who’s who of batsmen who have come and gone through door number three, including discards Marsh, Usman Khawaja, Rob Quiney, Phil Hughes, Ed Cowan and Alex Doolan.

Apart from Maxwell, only two on the list – David Warner and Michael Clarke – feature in the current Test team.

In fairness, Warner and James Faulkner were stop-gap measures at number three.

But only three on the list – Ponting, Marsh and Shane Watson – have made centuries when batting three.

Scouring the Sheffield Shield produces no ready answers to the problem.

In the Shield round commencing Friday, Queensland’s first drop was 19-year-old debutant Ben McDermott, who made a golden duck.

Scott Henry, with a first-class average just above 25, filled the spot for NSW while Tasmanian captain George Bailey, himself a Test discard, came in at first drop for the Tigers.

AAP