Perth, Nov 26 (IANS) As Australia head coach Andrew McDonald has confirmed unchanged squad for the second Test in Adelaide following the 295-run loss to India but all-rounder Mitchell Marsh’s ability to bowl is under a cloud for day-night Test, starting from December 6 at Adelaide Oval.
Following the loss at Peth Stadium in the first game of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, captain Pat Cummins disclosed that Marsh was dealing with niggles from this year’s white-ball tour to the UK.
“The people in that changeroom (for Perth Test) are the same people that will be in Adelaide. It (making changes) is always a consideration, wherever you go in the world in terms of the personnel you pick for conditions,” McDonald was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.
When asked how Marsh had pulled up having bowled a total of 17 overs (3-77) across India’s two innings, McDonald said, “Has he pulled up okay? We’ll wait and see. We knew that Mitch (Marsh) was slightly underdone coming in, but I thought the performance in the first innings was satisfactory.”
After his team’s disastrous batting performance against India in the sries opener, the coach was questioned further about whether the same starting lineup would be used in Adelaide and whether Inglis could be considered to replace a specialist batter.
“We’ll assess that as we go along, but as I said the squad that’s in there, they’ll be in Adelaide,” he said.
Labuschagne, meanwhile, is facing pressure, having not scored a century since July 2023. He was dismissed for 2 from 52 balls and 3 from five deliveries in the first Test.
Despite the batter’s struggles, McDonald backed him to turn it around and said, “We look at the way he plays and when he’s at his best and when we’ve seen him at his best he’s shown great intent at the crease, so that’s an ongoing discussion.
“That ebbs and flows in players’ careers; at the moment he’s in one of those patches, and no doubt he’ll be getting critiqued externally, but internally we’re really confident that at his best he’s the player we need,” he said.
Reflecting on the outcome of the first Test, McDonald admitted the team was outplayed in the final three days and said preparations for Adelaide would address those shortcomings.
“I think we’ve got to own it, and we’ve got to own that as coaches as well. So there will be a semblance of review around what we have done and what we can learn from it (But) I think morale is pretty good. I think this team is really good at the highs and lows, it’s quite a level team so we’ll be somewhere in the middle of that. There will be conversations around how we improve the appetite to get better, but I don’t think the morale’s an issue at this stage,” he said.
–IANS
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