After the historic loss to Bangladesh in Darwin, Australia's head coach Andrew McDonald has urged caution against making drastic changes to the Test team, arguing that an emotional revamp of a team that still has plenty of cricket left in it should not be prompted by the agonizing setback.
On Sunday, Australia lost to Bangladesh in their first-ever home Test match, which prompted quick criticism of a number of seasoned players. With Marnus Labuschagne and Jake Weatherald being questioned about their batting order positions, calls for adjustments have become very vocal.
Ricky Ponting, the former captain of Australia, also advocated for "regeneration" in the team, but McDonald thinks the choices should be made with a longer-term perspective rather than in response to a single loss.
“There is always going to be a call for change at the back of a loss. There is always going to be an emotion around that from the outside, and even internally. Our guys are sitting in the dressing room, and they are feeling it. You feel a tough loss. It means a lot to them to play for Australia, so let us not lose that in all this as well,” McDonald said, as quoted by the ICC.
McDonald highlighted that the current team still has a lot to contribute while acknowledging that Australia's elderly squad would unavoidably continue to be a talking point, especially following a negative outcome.
“It is always going to be a conversation, the age profile of the team. A loss does not help that. But these players have got a fair bit of cricket left in them. The easy option is to call for change. A lot of people call for change when we are not winning. They are entitled to do that as well on the back of a performance like that. So that is part of our lot,” McDonald stated.
McDonald said that the selection process would not follow emotions ahead of the second test in Mackay starting on August 22.
“We’re not emotional around change in terms of, 'If we lose a game, then we need change.' It’s the ability to think through, ‘Okay, what does it look like? How do we maximize our playing group, and how do we get the best out of them?’” he said.
He also backed spinner Nathan Lyon as the off-spinner did not do well in Darwin, giving away 125 runs for one wicket, as Bangladeshi batters neutralized his threat. By contrast, Bangladesh spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz claimed a match-winning five-wicket haul.
“I think they played him exceptionally well. As a whole, their batting unit, even against our quicks, played the ball late; they were very patient and disciplined. There was not a lot on the surface at that point in time for Nathan. So it is very hard to judge one-off sample sizes to the function of that attack,” McDonald said.
McDonald admitted that Marnus Labuschagne needs runs but was encouraged by some of the changes to his technique.
“We want runs as the bottom line. He’s lacked runs. He feels that. We feel that. We’re working incredibly hard as a coaching group,” he said.
Bangladesh will want to win the second Test as well to become only the second Asian team to win a Test series in Australia. Australia needs a win to keep their reputation intact and avoid an embarrassing record.
(ICC inputs)
