Follow UsThe Australian and West Indian batters had a torrid time during the recently concluded three-match Test series in the Caribbean. Although Australia completed a 3-0 whitewash over West Indies, most of their batters struggled. Australian head coach Andrew McDonald, however, isn’t overly concerned, citing the challenging nature of the pitches.
Travis Head (224 runs at 37.33), Steve Smith (127 at 31.75), Alex Carey (averaging 31.16), and Cameron Green (184 at 30.66) managed to average over 30, but the rest of the Australian batting unit faltered against West Indies’ formidable pace attack.
"It's really difficult to make accurate judgments on both batting units based upon the surfaces that we played on. And you take that into the third Test, which is a pink-ball Dukes on that surface—that game just moved way too fast and, at times, it didn't even look like cricket," McDonald said on The New Ball on SEN Radio, as reported by ESPNcricinfo.
"That cricket was borderline impossible to play at certain stages. Some of those deliveries from Mitchell Starc—the way that ball behaved under lights—it’s a bigger question for what the pink Dukes looks like for Test match cricket, really."
Australian openers Usman Khawaja and Sam Konstas collectively scored just 167 runs across the three Tests. Khawaja managed 117 at an average of 19.50, while Konstas struggled with only 50 runs at 8.33. The young opener failed to cross the 5-run mark in four out of his six innings. Still, McDonald defended the 19-year-old and hinted that Konstas is still in contention for the Ashes.
"I don't think anyone's damaged by being exposed to Test cricket because I think what it does do is it gives you a taste of what that level is like—all the things that come around being a Test cricketer, not just purely going out there, marking centre, and going about your business.
"There's no doubt he's got some things to work on, like all our players do, and they continually work on. He's clear on what they are. We feel as though across the journey, he's a highly talented player—and I hate to use that word 'talent'—but his skillsets over time, I think we’ll see the real Sam Konstas.
"At the moment, he's juggling his aggressive nature, he's juggling his technique and the way he really wants to go about playing it. But when you've got up-and-down seaming wickets, it can force you into those corners a lot quicker than some surfaces that are potentially batter-friendly, which we were expecting to get here."
With Marnus Labuschagne left out of the XI, Australia handed the No. 3 spot to Green. But McDonald believes Labuschagne won’t be sidelined for long.
"I think towards the end there (before being left out)—and Marnus won’t mind me saying this—there was a little bit of going backward and forward on plans, and at certain stages he wasn’t clear," McDonald said.
"He's got great clarity leaving here, which is a successful tour, albeit he hasn't played a game. We look forward to what he does coming into the early Shield rounds and then putting his hand up for selection for Perth.
"But he's a quality player. He averages 46 in Test match cricket. We feel as though this won’t be a huge gap before he returns because of that quality, but the start of the Shield season will really shape that."