St George’s, July 8 (IANS) Australia head coach Andrew McDonald feels that struggling opening batter Sam Konstas is still adjusting himself to the international cricket environment and his outing in the second Test against West Indies was a “small step forward”.
McDonald added that there will be a “great opportunity” for players to stake their claim for Ashes selection through early-season domestic cricket and Australia A fixtures.
Konstas scored 25 in the first innings in Grenada but was dismissed for a duck during a short stint at the crease late on the second day. He is set to feature in the final Test at Sabina Park – also the venue’s first day-night Test – which offers him a chance to finish strongly and position himself firmly in the race for a spot in the home Ashes series later this year.
“Four games in, eight innings, it’s probably early for anyone to judge, really. I think the challenges in Test cricket aren’t necessarily always your skill level or your technique. It’s dealing with the moments, the pressure and all the other things that externally come with that as well. He’s a player finding his feet in the environment,” McDonald said of Konstas’ early Test career.
“(It was) a small step forward in the last game with that first innings. I thought the way he structured up his first 20-odd balls, he had the positive intent, he was moving a lot better compared to the game before where it looked like he was stuck in the middle and didn’t know whether to play a shot and it was either ultra-aggressive or ultra-defensive,” he added.
Konstas is expected to take part in the four-day Australia A matches during the India tour in late September, followed by availability for the opening rounds of the Sheffield Shield in early October, with four rounds likely to be played before the Ashes begin.
“There’s great opportunity in domestic cricket at the start of the season, and there always is leading into any Test series. We saw with the Border-Gavaskar Trophy last year, there was an opportunity for players to put their hand up there. There’s also Australia A (against Sri Lanka A) in the Top End (Darwin) at the moment, so we’re watching that closely… so it’s really about the opportunity that presents.
“First and foremost, we concentrate on what’s right here, right now. Everyone will be speculating around who can come in, what possibilities are, but we’re confident the players that we’ve got here can do the job,” McDonald said.
Before the tour, McDonald noted that it might be difficult to draw strong parallels between this series and the upcoming Ashes – a view he still holds, even though the matches have been dominated by pace rather than featuring a major role for spin.
“There’s been a lot of variable bounce and sideways movement, so it’s probably not similar to Australia. Maybe some surfaces will be. I think Perth potentially, when it does crack a little bit, it can go up and down and a little bit sideways. But I think the first four rounds of Shield cricket will draw a better connection to the Ashes than what we’re seeing here.
“What we are seeing here, though, is people getting exposed at Test level, and within that exposure, the mental challenges of Test cricket are real,” he said.
–IANS
ab/bc
