National selectors may have been in close contact with Matt Renshaw but the in-form Queensland opener isn't getting his hopes up about a Test recall ahead of this week's Sheffield Shield final in Brisbane.
Renshaw has been cleared of concussion concerns and will play the decider against Tasmania starting on Friday after suffering a head knock in a collision with a teammate before day two of the Bulls' recent outright win over NSW in Wollongong.
Renshaw revealed selectors had sent him a message every time he had scored a Shield ton after being dropped from the Test team at the start of the summer.
And lately the messages have been arriving often.
Renshaw struck three tons in as many matches before his freak collision with teammate Sam Heazlett ended his run.
He will hope to resume his streak against the Tigers at Allan Border Field but Renshaw wasn't thinking he would be donning the baggy green any time soon.
"I get a message from them if I get a hundred which is nice," Renshaw said.
"I have got a few over the last few weeks.
"They (selectors) are keeping an eye on things but they are worrying about South Africa - I am just worried about this Shield final."
Renshaw couldn't buy a run in a luckless start to the summer but has turned it around since the Shield's post-Big Bash League break.
Renshaw is the only batsman to have struck three Shield tons this summer, amassing 686 runs at 40.35.
"It's weird. I had not been expecting to turn my season around that much," Renshaw said.
"But when I have been getting in I have made sure when I got in I went really big, that's one of the team's mantras.
"(But) I think if you ever go out to bat and prove that you can play the next level (Tests) you are going to struggle.
"That's one thing I learned from the first half of the season, when I tried to bat for the Test side that's when I went downhill a little - I am just excited about playing a final."
Queensland coach Wade Seccombe was breathing a sigh of relief after placing batsman Lachlan Pfeffer on standby for Renshaw.
Pfeffer was a concussion substitute for Renshaw during last week's win over NSW.
"We were a little worried to start with but we followed all the protocols and he has come through with flying colours so it is a bit of a relief," he said.
Queensland last won the Shield title in 2011-12.
Australian Associated Press
