Matt Renshaw to take short break from cricket after Queensland snub

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Matt Renshaw has decided to take a short break from cricket to recharge his batteries after being axed from the Queensland Sheffield Shield squad following poor run of form with the bat. Renshaw now has not hit a century for 28 innings.

Renshaw was set to be named in the Cricket Australia XI to face England Lions but following his decision to take a break from the game, Usman Khawaja will take Renshaw's place in the side.

"As part of our usual review process of player performance, our coaching and support staff spent time with Matthew this week and they all came to the conclusion that he would benefit from some time away from cricket," Queensland Cricket's general manager of performance, Bennett King told News Corp.

"We're confident Matthew will benefit from a break from the game to freshen up, and look forward to working with him once he is ready to resume playing," he added.

Renshaw has so far played 11 Tests, scoring 636 runs at an average of 33.47. However, his last Test was in March 2018 in South Africa, where he was called in as a replacement post the ball-tampering saga. But, he showed form in the ninth edition of the Big Bash League, where he scored 348 runs at a strike rate of 148.84.

Renshaw now follows the likes of Glenn Maxwell, Nic Maddinson and Will Pucovski in taking breaks from international cricket. However, Maxwell made a succesful return to top-tier cricket in this year's BBL 09 and was included in Australia's squad for the South Africa tour. But, on Thursday, he was ruled out of the same because of a need for surgery on his left elbow.