Australia coach Andrew McDonald sees early promise in Sam Konstas, despite his modest performances so far. Konstas scored 25 and a duck in the second Test against West Indies but will get another chance in the final day-night Test at Sabina Park, hoping to cement his place ahead of the home Ashes series.
“𝑭𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏, 𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔, 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒃𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒚 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒋𝒖𝒅𝒈𝒆,” 𝑴𝒄𝑫𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒅 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅. “𝑯𝒆’𝒔 𝒂 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒗𝒊𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕.”
McDonald noted Konstas looked more composed in Grenada, showing better intent and movement compared to earlier innings.
Big Opportunities in Domestic Cricket Ahead
Konstas is expected to play in Australia A’s tour of India before returning to Sheffield Shield cricket, where performances could shape Ashes selection. McDonald emphasized the importance of these matches:
“𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆’𝒔 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒅𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒐𝒏… 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔.”
Although conditions in the West Indies haven’t closely matched Australian pitches, McDonald believes the mental demands of Test cricket have provided valuable experience.
“There’s been a lot of variable bounce and sideways movement… but the first four rounds of Shield cricket will draw a better connection to the Ashes than what we’re seeing here,” he explained.
No Major Changes Expected for Final Test
Australia have already sealed the series with dominant wins, thanks to their strong bowling and middle-order batting. While Usman Khawaja has struggled, Cameron Green’s half-century eased concerns about the top order.
“Ultimately the game of cricket’s matching the bowling with the batting. At the moment we’re doing that,” McDonald said. “Would we like to have greater output from the top order? There’s no doubt about that… But they’ll come.”
McDonald doesn’t foresee any major squad changes for the final Test, which will mark Mitchell Starc’s 100th appearance. A call on Marnus Labuschagne’s plans will be made once the match begins, with options including a return to county cricket, Australia A duty, or a rest ahead of the South Africa ODI series.
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