Australian coach Andrew McDonald is certain batting has never been harder but is adamant seasoned performers Marnus Labuschagne and Cameron Green have what it takes to flourish through a massive year for the nation’s Test team.
With the first Test of a possible 21 matches over the next 12 months just a fortnight away, McDonald is delighted to have an Australian squad that is at full health and ready for a year of significant challenges across the world.
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The Australian coach is also confident Northern Territorian Jake Weatherald, who will open against Bangladesh, has what it takes to succeed as a Test opener in the long-term after a patchy debut series against England last summer.
But he said the spotlight on the Australian top order came at a time when batting has become more difficult and believes previous benchmarks that defined excellence are no longer as relevant given changes to the modern game.
“I think the benchmarking of players averaging over 50 in Test cricket, the way that it used to be played, and this isn’t an excuse, but the game is played at a higher tempo across the board,” McDonald said.
“Australian teams in the past have played at a high tempo. Even (with) people talking about ‘Bazball’ I can remember a game at Adelaide Oval … where Australia scored 450 or something on the first day, so all those things have been done, but there is a faster pace to Test cricket these days.
“So how we’re judging our players and how teams are operating is always interesting, so the benchmarking from the past, I think, is … not irrelevant, but we’re probably moved past that.”
Andrew McDonald said Australia will continue to pick the best Test team available despite criticism regarding a lack of youth being injected into the side ahead of the series against Bangladesh. (Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
It is in that backdrop that McDonald, who pointed to a series of factors for the dip in scoring, has backed in Green and Labuschagne despite the challenges both players have experienced at home in particular in recent seasons.
This week will mark three years since the Queenslander last scored a Test century, that coming at Manchester in the Ashes, but McDonald said that the former ICC Test Batsman of the Year remained among our best batters.
But he needs to deliver. When McDonald was asked by Fox Footy’s AFL 360 host Gerard Whateley what Australia needed from Labuschagne, whose average has dipped to 44.7, the initial response was succinct; “Runs”.
“I think that’s the obvious answer,” McDonald said on SEN in Melbourne.
“Last summer, (his) first Test match on the back of the Shield work that he did was very promising. He probably had a little bit of a lull through the middle of that series and then ended in Sydney, where you’d expect him to be, at as a high-level batter. It’s all still there.”
Australian coach Andrew McDonald is confident Marnus Labuschagne and Jake Weatherald will flourish over what is a challenging 12 months for the nation’s Test team. Photo by Phil Hillyard.Source: News Corp Australia
Following the Bangladesh series, Australia returns to South Africa for the first time since the “sandpaper-gate” disaster in 2018.
The Aussies then host New Zealand, which ended the tenures of both Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum with their recent series triumph in England, before travelling to India for a five Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy series.
At its completion Australia, which has a dominant lead in the World Test Championship, will host England in the 150th Anniversary Test at the MCG prior to an Ashes tour beginning in June, which follows the WTC final.
Labuschagne looms as a critical figure in the top order if he is able to regain the form that made him one of the world’s best batters, with the Queenslander showing semblances of that touch against England last summer.
“He’s working incredibly hard on his game, and I know that’s an easy thing to say that someone’s working hard, and people want to see results, and Marnus wants to see those results, we want to see those results, (but) he’s done a deep dive into his batting,” McDonald said.
“He’s challenged himself. He’s had some space and time to work on it and I think sometimes when you’re playing the whole time, and he’s admitted this as well, that when he was dropped from the West Indies Series, it gave him an opportunity to work on his game. It’s just about now going out there and executing, and also staying true to what you’ve done in that preparation phase.
“I think the criticism sometimes, and I hope Marnus doesn’t mind me saying this because we have these conversations, is in that search for the answer. Sometimes he’s shifting away from what makes him really good, that sort of proactive batting. He does focus on his technique a lot, but settling that down, trusting that over a period of time, and just going out there and doing it (is the key).”
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As an aside, McDonald did not rule out the prospect that Stokes might yet feature in next year’s Ashes despite his recent retirement. The former English captain has been in good form for Durham since retiring from international cricket.
“I don’t know. I think the fairytale would be that he comes back out of retirement and takes on one more Ashes and builds a lot of hype on the way in,” McDonald told SEN’s Whateley program on Wednesday.
“So if you’re looking at promoting that series, that’s probably the angle that you would want that he come out of retirement. He still got to me, he’s still got a lot of good cricket left in him. So yeah, it’ll be a fascinating watch.
“I think that whoever the new head coach that comes in potentially has a conversation with him. So we don’t know why Ben left. I don’t think there’s been anything on the record around the definitive reason as to why. But he may have just called it a day on Test cricket, and that’s it.
“So there might be a full stop there. There might be an opportunity for that new head coach to potentially twist his arm and bring him back in. But if it ends now, he’s had a wonderful career in terms of what he’s brought to the game, his impact in certain innings and moments in time, yeah, will age pretty well for him to look back on.”
Andrew McDonald pictured speaking with Victorian spinner Todd Murphy at the MCG last summer. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
The Aussies have picked a full-strength squad of 13 for the Bangladesh series being held in Darwin and Mackay next month.
But McDonald, who said all-rounders Green and Beau Webster can feature in the same Test team, said a broader group of 19 was effectively in consideration for challenges ahead with simulation games to be held in Brisbane next month.
An Australian XI featuring prospective contenders will play Bangladesh prior to the two Test series, while an Australian development squad is heading to India for a fortnight this weekend.
While there has been some criticism of the decision not to inject youth into the Test team given Australia will start a strong favourite against Bangladesh, McDonald said that spots needed to be earned under this Test match committee.
“The debate’s always going to be about what opportunities that you do expose for people and we’ve always been on the record around every Test match, we pick the best team, and we have had a long lay-off,” he said.
“You want to reward it. Is it an age profile that people will challenge and question? There’s no doubt about that. But these players are still at their best, we believe, and hence why they’re being selected.
“So (it would) be very difficult to go to someone and say, ‘Yeah, you’ve been in our best Test squad for … X amount of time and you’re performing at a high level’, which this team has, and say, ‘Okay, by the way, we’re just going to (float) a couple of youngsters in this series.’
“It doesn’t really sit well with us as a selection panel, and we want to pick that best test 11 each time.”
Jake Weatherald, pictured at Nightcliff Jetty earlier this year, grew up in Darwin and will open for Australia against Bangladesh in the first Test in a fortnight’s time. Picture: Courtney McCabeSource: News Corp Australia
Australia will play Bangladesh in Darwin between August 13-17 and in Mackay between August 22-26 with the matches broadcast on Fox Cricket.
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