‘Big worry’ exposed for selectors as two costly blunders backfire
Mark Waugh concedes there is a “big worry” facing Australian selectors over the next 12 months – and some of it might be their own fault.
In the wake of arguably Australia’s worst defeat ever, losing by nine wickets to Bangladesh, calls for heads to roll in the Test side have reached fever pitch.
Jake Weatherald has been axed by Australian selectors. Getty Images
Jake Weatherald has already become a casualty, dropped in favour of a returning Matt Renshaw for the second match, while Marnus Labuschagne remains under immense pressure as his lean run of form at Test level continues.
The issue that most smart judges will raise is that there aren’t enough quality players, especially with the bat, staking their claim at first-class level.
Renshaw felt like he had a red line through his name for many years, but off the back of a strong Sheffield Shield season, has earned a surprise recall and will now get a golden chance to resurrect his Test career.
But the depth of Australia’s batting stocks remains a constant concern, which Waugh addressed during an interview with 2GB’s Sports Today.
“It’s a big worry,” the Aussie great and former selector said.
“That’s probably why Marnus Labuschagne has kept his spot, to be honest. If someone was knocking down the door, then he’d be in real trouble.
“You look at other candidates, you’ve got Nathan McSweeney, who has played a few Test matches and is a pretty solid player. Josh Inglis is in the squad already, but he’s covering the wicket-keeping duties and batting lower in the order.
“Then you’ve got the young group - Ollie Peake, Campbell Kellaway, Sam Konstas and Cooper Connolly - they are the players around the thinking of selectors.
“They’re not knocking the door down and that’s one of the real problems for the selectors. They gave Konstas a go, but he didn’t work out ... but I feel like he might be able to come back into the scenario if he scores some runs for NSW.
“Australian selectors have put out a few bushfires with Weatherald dropped, Renshaw coming in and Cam Green scoring runs, that was a big bonus ... but there’s still potential hurdles in the next 12 months with other players.”
Two of the names mentioned by Waugh are no strangers to Test cricket, with both Konstas and McSweeney part of the team over the past two years.
Both players featured in the 2024/25 home series against India to varying degrees of success, while Konstas last played a Test in last year’s West Indies tour.
While neither player scored the runs required or performed well enough to keep their spot, Australian selectors probably didn’t set them up for success either.
Let’s start with McSweeney, who is primarily a first or second-drop batsman at state level with South Australia, which earned him Test honours to begin with.
Nathan McSweeney had a short stint at Test level. Getty
When he debuted for Australia, the 27-year-old was forced to open the batting and face the world’s best fast bowler, Jasprit Bumrah.
McSweeney was thrown to the wolves in an unfamiliar role, given a few games against a rampaging Bumrah and then dropped by Boxing Day.
There are those who would argue there’s little difference between batting at No.3 and facing the new ball and that McSweeney should have still performed better.
There is merit to that, but McSweeney wasn’t given the best possible chance to succeed and that isn’t entirely on his shoulders.
The man who replaced him at the top in that same Border-Gavaskar Trophy campaign was teenage prodigy Konstas, who set the country alight with his outrageous half-century on Test debut at the MCG.
Within a couple of hours, Konstas went from a young kid who had all the hype around him, to someone that every Aussie cricket fan was talking about.
The talented Sutherland product’s selection came with plenty of conjecture around it, but blasting Bumrah to all parts of the ground on debut showed Konstas had not only the skill, but the confidence to succeed on the big stage.
Sam Konstas celebrates a fifty on Test debut. AP
He played again in Sydney, returning scores of 23 and 22 in a convincing win over India, with stardom and a long run in the Test arena firmly in Konstas’ sights.
But when the Aussies toured Sri Lanka just two months later, Konstas was left out of the XI in a top-order reshuffle centred around it being “horses for courses”.
Runs flowed for everyone in that series on extremely batter-friendly pitches, while Konstas watched on from the sidelines.
Konstas was then recalled in treacherous conditions against the Windies and was totally exposed on decks that made even the best batters look silly, forcing selectors to drop the young gun back out of the Test set-up.
His form and confidence took a major hit in the process and now Konstas, who looked like a potential long-term option, is rebuilding his game.
It may seem strange to dig up issues from 12 months ago, but when the side have just suffered an embarrassing loss to Bangladesh, everything needs to come under the microscope, and it makes you wonder what Konstas or McSweeney would be thinking, watching Australia go down to a minnow nation.
If both men can start the domestic season in strong form, they loom as the next cabs off the rank to force their way into the Aussie team.
Campbell Kellaway celebrates a century for Victoria. Getty
Kellaway, Peake and Connolly are raw talents with the world at their feet, but also need to find a steady diet of runs at first-class level before getting selected.
Other batters who could be in the mix with big scores in the Shield campaign include Jason Sangha, Kurtis Patterson, Henry Hunt and all-rounder Liam Scott.
While all the attention is on the batting depth, Waugh isn’t thrilled by the bowling stocks sitting below the big four of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon, who are all getting towards the end of their careers.
“We’ve got a great bowling lineup of guys that are in this current squad, but if one or two of them got injured, the back-up isn’t that strong either,” he said.
Scott Boland and Michael Neser are the clear back-up bowlers in the short-term, but both men are well into their mid-30s and won’t be around forever.
Fergus O’Neill is a player many cricket fans want to see in the Australian mix soon, while Todd Murphy, Mitch Perry, Corey Rocchiccioli and Riley Meredith could be knocking on the door for a spot in the squad moving into 2027.
The second Test against Bangladesh begins on Saturday morning in Mackay and selectors, coaches and players will be desperate for a turnaround.
