![\"Player](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/02d2b23baa0a0d52431e4d20e9301589940ceca2.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nKonstas, 20, is almost certain to miss selection in a squad expected to include about 15 players. He remains upbeat but accepts that his international career is likely to be put on pause after Sheffield Shield scores of 4, 14, 0, 53, 10 and 41 for NSW.<\/p>\n
Jake Weatherald and Matt Renshaw are the frontrunners to open with Usman Khawaja and each has well-placed supporters. Weatherald has been the best proactive opener in the Sheffield Shield over the past season and a third, and handles pace bowling with aplomb. Renshaw has already shown his ability at Test level and as Khawaja\u2019s state teammate has a strong understanding with the incumbent.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Player in the spotlight: Sam Konstas.Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Labuschagne believes a stint away from Tests may help Konstas in the long run.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s something that needed to happen for me to get where I am today,\u201d Labuschagne said. \u201cWhile you\u2019re still playing and you\u2019re getting scrutinised, it\u2019s hard to get clarity on where you want your game to be and how you want to do that. It was something that really needed to happen for me to find my best.<\/p>\n
\u201cSammy is so talented. We\u2019ve seen that. He\u2019s young. This is first-class cricket and it\u2019s not easy, especially batting at the top. He\u2019ll learn his game.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel when he really learns his game, learns when to attack and defend and use all those shots, he\u2019s a very good player for Australia.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWhatever happens for him, I\u2019ve got no doubt that he\u2019s going to be a future player for Australia and it\u2019s about getting those people around him to support him. He\u2019ll work it out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Labuschagne said he hasn\u2019t received clarity on whether he will open or bat No.3 against England, but believes the balance could be dictated by whether Australia need to play one or both of Cameron Green or Beau Webster.<\/p>\n
Asked if he may have used up his runs too early in the season, Labuschagne replied: \u201cNever. I feel like whenever you\u2019re batting badly, you\u2019re always like, \u2018geez, I just need to get that rhythm and feel\u2019. Once you\u2019ve got it, you protect it like it\u2019s gold.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never believe in it because I just feel it\u2019s a habit. If you\u2019re batting well and scoring runs, it\u2019s a habit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, England spearheads Mark Wood and Jofra Archer have arrived in Perth ahead of the Ashes, with England Test squad and Lions players to start training in the west from Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Wood, who was the outstanding bowler for England in each of the past two Ashes series, was particularly eager to take advantage of the pace and steep bounce of the Perth Stadium pitch.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what we\u2019re here for, so can\u2019t wait to hopefully bring the win home,\u201d Wood said on arrival in Perth. \u201cI\u2019ve played here before and it is fast and bouncy, so hopefully that plays into our hands.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re here to win, Both teams play entertaining cricket, so I think it will be a great series.\u201d<\/p>\n
Archer, who took part in England\u2019s 0-3 drubbing by New Zealand in an ODI series that concluded over the weekend, won\u2019t be doing any more bowling until the full Ashes squad convenes on Monday.<\/p>\n
Cummins\u2019 mentor Dennis Lillee, meanwhile, has issued an Ashes warning for Australia\u2019s top six. While confident that Australia\u2019s bowling attack would have the quality to hurt England\u2019s freewheeling top six, he is sceptical about the hosts\u2019 ability to make enough runs.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur bowling is superb, England\u2019s bowling is untested generally on our wickets,\u201d Lillee said on ABC Radio. \u201cIt\u2019s a bit easier to bowl on the softer turf in England than it is to bowl on hard WACA, Sydney and Melbourne wickets.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir batting can be a bit hit-and-miss but if they go, they go. We\u2019ve got problems at the top order of our batting. We\u2019ve got to be very careful, we could be 3-15 and all out for 170 if we don\u2019t watch ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Konstas, 20, is almost certain to miss selection in a squad expected to include about 15 players. He…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":259580,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564],"tags":[64,63,740,85],"class_list":["post-259579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cricket","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cricket","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=259579"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259579\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/259580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=259579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=259579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=259579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}