Australia have made a big call one week away from the marquee Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground by opting to change their opening combination for the remainder of the five-Test series. 19-year-old Sam Konstas has been handed a maiden call-up to the national team in lieu of Nathan McSweeney who has been released after disappointing in the first three games. Barring a steadfast 39 in Adelaide, the 25-year-old managed just 33 runs across five innings and fell to Jasprit Bumrah four times in the process. The final nail in the coffin came at the Gabba, where the South Australia skipper trot his way to a 29-ball four in the second innings despite the team looking for impetus in order to force a result.
Konstas is all but guaranteed to claim that vacant top-order spot, having been one of the frontrunners even before the series began. Despite having just 11 first-class games to his name, the New South Wales batter has been touted as a prodigy and backed it up with twin centuries against McSweeney’s men in the Sheffield Shield season opener. Since then, Konstas has scored an unbeaten 73 at the MCG in a tour game against India, struck a rapid century against the same opponent in the the Prime Minister’s game, aggregated a patient 88 against West Australia, and recorded the fastest-ever half-century for the Sydney Thunder in their BBL opening encounter.
The only competition for Konstas in the squad is Josh Inglis, who has been with the contingent since the start of the series as a backup batter albeit he is not a specialist opener.
”The squad provides options as to how we structure the XI for the final two Tests of the series. Sam gets a call up to the Test squad for the first time. His style of batting offers a point of difference and we look forward to watching his game develop further,” chair of selectors George Bailey was quoted saying by ESPN Cricinfo.
“We remain confident Nathan has the ability and temperament to succeed at Test level in the future. It was a difficult decision to leave him out. It has clearly been a challenge at the top of the order for batters throughout the series and we want to provide the option of a different line-up for the next two matches.”
The hosts were also forced to remove Josh Hazlewood from the mix after the premier quick had to be ruled out with a calf injury. While Scott Boland is expected to slot right back in as he did in Adelaide where he picked up five wickets, all-rounder Jhye Richardson and veteran quick Sean Abbott have been added as backups with the latter uncapped at the Test level. All-rounder Beau Webster has also been retained following his stellar Shield campaign last time around and could be in for a debut with questions lingering over Mitchell Marsh’s ability to provide enough overs to keep the marquee quicks fresh.
“In the absence of Josh Hazlewood, Jhye provides further options in the fast bowling space. It has been pleasing to see his successful return throughout the early part of the domestic summer,” Bailey said of the changes.
Australia’s squad for the last two BGT Tests: Pat Cummins (capt), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Jhye Richardson, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster
