Nathan McSweeney is set to be dropped from Australia’s squad for the Boxing Day Test, with NSW young gun Sam Konstas poised for a call-up.
Selectors will announce a squad for the fourth Test against India on Friday afternoon, but one name that won’t be on the list is that of McSweeney.
As revealed by this masthead on Thursday, McSweeney’s spot in Australia’s XI was being heavily debated by selectors following two single-digit scores during the drawn third Test at the Gabba.
Sources with knowledge of selections, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they do not have permission to discuss the situation publicly, have indicated that McSweeney won’t feature for Australia in the fourth Test. The 25-year-old has been informed of the decision.
Although there has been no formal announcement, Konstas, 19, could make his debut in front of more than 90,000 fans at the MCG after an impressive year with the bat.
This masthead can reveal that Konstas received a phone call early on Friday afternoon after Sydney Thunder training informing him of his selection in Australia’s squad.
Nathan McSweeney.Credit: Getty Images
Konstas will play for the Thunder on Saturday against the Sydney Sixers before flying to Melbourne on Sunday to link up with the Australian team.
The NSW opener made twin hundreds in a Sheffield Shield match against South Australia earlier this year, followed by a century for the Prime Minister’s XI against India and another score of 88 against Western Australia at the SCG.
He then brought up a 50 off 20 balls on his Big Bash debut to strengthen his case.
Australia took a gamble by picking McSweeney, who is not a specialist opener, to bat at the top of the order against the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj. From three Tests, McSweeney has made 72 runs at 14.4.
Sam Konstas in action for NSW. Credit: Getty Images
Selectors were adamant McSweeney’s game would hold up as an opening batsman but his axing shows a lack of faith.
Former Test opener Ed Cowan said before the series that statistics indicated McSweeney, traditionally a No.3 and No.4, struggled against the new ball.
“The data would suggest that at the moment in his career, he doesn’t have the technique nor the temperament to do it,” Cowan said on the ABC’s Grandstand Cricket Podcast. “You know what a selection, when the data doesn’t support your point of view, is? It’s a guess. Guesses sometimes pay off, but that’s called luck, and if they don’t, they actually dilute the players’ confidence [across the country] … as to what it takes to get selected.”
In response, head selector George Bailey said: “I’d like to think it’s a little more than a guess. We could all run our fingers down the list of leading run-scorers … but that’s not necessarily how cricket teams work. It’s how they fit together.
“The point was, in our minds, that it won’t be a major adjustment for him. Talking to Nathan, the way he prepares to go and play for South Australia, when he does bat at No.3, is it’s a very similar mindset and very similar way he’ll approach it. We think he’s got the game that will succeed at Test level.”
Josh Inglis has also been in the Australia’s squad as a spare batsman and could come into calculations for the MCG Test.
Scott Boland is expected to replace the injured Josh Hazlewood in the XI, while Queensland paceman Xavier Bartlett is being touted as a potential bolter in the squad.
More to come
