Australia head coach Andrew McDonald believes team must improve after defeat to South Africa in WTC Final; insists on need to bed down their opening combination
Australia captain Pat Cummins (centre) leads his team off the field during the ICC WTC Final against South Africa at Lord’s in London on Friday. Pic/Getty Images
After suffering a five-wicket defeat to South Africa in the World Test Championship (WTC) Final at Lord’s, head coach McDonald has hinted at making changes to their top-order when they start their new cycle in the West Indies.
At Lord’s, Marnus Labuschagne was moved up to open alongside Usman Khawaja at Lord’s, so as to accommodate a returning Cameron Green at number three. But the move didn’t work, as Labuschagne’s lean run continued, while Khawaja and Green couldn’t make any substantial contributions.
“It was a big discussion leading into this Test match, and I was on the record a couple of weeks ago talking about the need to bed down that opening combination. We’ve had a bit of musical chairs there, so it might be the time.
‘SA were better’
“But as we sit here right now, you got to say that South Africa were better in this Test match. We’ve got to look at the improvements that we need to make. There’s no doubt about that,” said McDonald to reporters on Sunday.
Andrew McDonald
Labuschagne has averaged just 27.82 in the 2023-25 WTC cycle, and doubts have increased over whether he could be dropped for the series against the West Indies. But McDonald insisted that he’s a big part of the team’s future.
“Anyone that averages 45, 46 in Test cricket at that age is important. We’ve got older players there that are closer to the end than the start. We’ve got some younger players that are coming in.
“If he can get his game in good order for the next four or five years, he can underpin that batting order. But at the moment, he’d be disappointed with the returns. He’s missed out on big scores. But we’re confident that he could return to his best, and hence why we keep picking him. And at what point do we stop picking him?
“I think most players across their journey get dropped at some point in time. I think he had a positive week here where he worked on the right things and had a great prep. There’s no harder worker than Marnus. Now it’s really just about the returns. And at the moment, as I said, he’d be disappointed,” he elaborated.
Khawaja provides stability
Talking about Khawaja, McDonald said: “He’s on contract; he’s an important player. He gives us stability at his best at the top. And we like to look at our players at their best. No doubt, a couple of failures here, and people then start to talk about maybe it’s the end.”
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