Matt Renshaw still harbours hopes of heading to South Africa for the four-Test series in March, despite spending the past month in the cricketing wilderness.

Renshaw will captain a Cricket Australia XI against England at Sydney's Drummoyne Oval on Thursday – which will be livestreamed on cricket.com.au and the CA Live app – in what will be his first game outside of Premier cricket in more than a month.

QUICK SINGLE Proteas triumph as 18 wickets tumble

In that time the heat has increased on Renshaw's replacement, Cameron Bancroft, after his output fell away following an unbeaten 82 in the Gabba Test and finished with an average of 25.57.

With no JLT Sheffield Shield between now and the squad selection later this month, Bancroft is expected to keep his place in the side for at least the start of the series after receiving the public backing of Steve Smith and Darren Lehmann.

QUICK SINGLE Lehmann adds his support for Bancroft

But Renshaw said he hadn't given up hope of making the tour.

"You want to try and play in as many Test series as possible," Renshaw said.

"You see the South African team playing against India at the moment, it's a strong outfit.

"If I can get the opportunity to go over there and score a lot of runs it will be really good for my confidence and my game."

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Renshaw comes into Thursday's game in a rich vein of form, after scoring 85, 107 and 77 in the Twenty20 matches for Toombul in Brisbane's Premier cricket last weekend.

However he has been unable to force his way into the starting XI for the high-scoring Brisbane Heat, while Bancroft is expected to slide straight into the KFC BBL with the Perth Scorchers.

Renshaw's best chance of an Australian recall may be if he can perform on Thursday against England and then replace the injured Chris Lynn for the Heat before the selectors name the squad for South Africa.

The 21-year-old, who was dropped from the start of the Magellan Ashes series after a poor run of form in the Sheffield Shield at the start of the summer, said he could empathise with the pressure Bancroft was now seemingly under.

"I know the scenario he's been in and I think it's tough," he said.

"You don't want people to do badly when they're playing for their country, you want them to do well when they're playing for their country.

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"He could be a bit hard-done by, the media has obviously been playing it up quite a bit. He's got the backing of the coach and the captain."

Meanwhile Australia's selectors appear in no rush to name a replacement for the injured Lynn, who was ruled out of the ODI series with a calf complaint. The selectors are understood to be prepared to gauge performances in the next few nights of BBL action before adding a batsman to the squad, possibly as late as Saturday, ahead of Sunday's opening Gillette ODI.

2017-18 International Fixtures

Gillette ODI Series v England

Australia ODI squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Pat Cummins, Aaron Finch, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine, Jhye Richardson, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa.

England ODI squad: Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Tom Curran, Alex Hales, Dawid Malan, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.

First ODI MCG, January 14. Tickets

Second ODI Gabba, January 19. Tickets

Third ODI SCG, January 21. Tickets

Fourth ODI Adelaide Oval, January 26. Tickets

Fifth ODI Perth Stadium, January 28. Tickets

Prime Minister's XI

PM's XI v England Manuka Oval, February 2. Tickets

Gillette T20 trans-Tasman Tri-Series

England T20 squad: Eoin Morgan (c), Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Tom Curran, Liam Dawson, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Dawid Malan, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, James Vince, David Willey, Mark Wood.

First T20I Australia v NZ, SCG, February 3. Tickets

Second T20I Australia v England, Blundstone Arena, February 7. Tickets

Third T20I Australia v England, MCG, February 10. Tickets

Fourth T20I NZ v England, Wellington, February 14

Fifth T20I NZ v Australia, Eden Park, February 16

Sixth T20I NZ v England, Seddon Park, February 18

Final TBC, Eden Park, February 21

2017-18 International Results

Magellan Ashes Series

First Test Australia won by 10 wickets. Scorecard

Second Test Australia won by 120 runs (Day-Night). Scorecard

Third Test Australia won by an innings and 41 runs. Scorecard

Fourth Test Match drawn. Scorecard

Fifth Test Australia win by an innings and 123 runs. Scorecard