Duck adds to teen’s ‘incredible challenge’
A pair of Test opening contenders failed to score and Marcus Harris fared little better as wickets tumbled on an uninspiring first day of the Australia A clash in Mackay.
Sam Konstas and Cameron Bancroft both fell for ducks to India A’s opening bowlers as Australian coach Andrew McDonald conceded Konstas’ lack of experience at Test match venues would weigh against him when the selectors convene in 10 days’ time.
McDonald confirmed a call on Usman Khawaja’s opening partner would not be made until the conclusion of the second Australia A game in Melbourne next week, but Nathan McSweeney was the only candidate to press his case on the first day of the series.
The Australia A captain showed his maturity as he pushed through to stumps unbeaten on 29 off 110 deliveries, with the home side 4-99 after skittling the tourists for 107.
The top-order quartet were made to wait to begin their intriguing battle after McSweeney won the toss and elected to bowl, but given his chance before the tea break, Konstas lasted only three balls as he prodded at a full-pitched delivery from Mukesh Kumar and snicked behind.
Bancroft followed for a 14-ball duck as he poked at a delivery which reared up at his rib cage and was caught down the leg side.
It was a troubling recurrence of that mode of dismissal for the 31-year-old, but he was visibly disappointed with the umpire’s call.
Harris had better luck when he was dropped at third slip on eight, but the left-hander threw away his chance as he continued to flash at wide deliveries before he parried a short delivery to second slip for 17.
Two-Test quick Prasidh Krishna put his hand up for a recall with the wickets of Bancroft and Harris, claiming 2-13 from 10 overs as he extracted impressive bounce from the wicket.
The cheap dismissals came after McDonald had told reporters earlier in the day that Konstas would face “incredible challenges” if he was picked for the five-Test series.
The 19-year-old NSW opener has not played any red-ball cricket at the first three venues in the series: Perth Stadium, the Gabba and Adelaide Oval.
“People have spoken about a ‘bat-off’ and those types of terms – there’s a lot of context and consideration around body of work for those senior players in Marcus Harris and Cameron Bancroft,’ McDonald said.
“Clearly Sam Konstas hasn’t been able to have that body of work behind him because of the limited Shield cricket that he’s played … and obviously Nathan McSweeney is somewhere in the middle of that.
“You take Sam for example, he’s had limited experience in Perth, and then obviously up to the Gabba, so there’s incredible challenges for players who haven’t played in those conditions before, but it’s not to say that he can’t do that either – he’s a fast learner.”
Brendan Doggett only received a call-up to the A squad after an injuries to Mark Steketee and his replacement Liam Hatcher, but the South Australian quick made the most of his opportunity to claim a superb 6-15 from 11 overs.
Doggett’s Redbacks teammate Jordan Buckingham was also impressive in a two-wicket spell with the new ball, while offspinner Todd Murphy was introduced early and bowled with good control to finish with 1-26 from 10 overs.
