Andrew McDonald talks up Konstas’ chances of selection ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India next month.
Andrew McDonald confirms that Sam Konstas’ lack of experience won’t stop him from getting a test debut.
Konstas is in the running to open the Test series after scoring back-to-back hundreds in the season’s opening Sheffield Shield match and a valiant 43 against Victoria on a challenging pitch at the MCG. He will play for Australia A against India A in Mackay starting Thursday.
The selectors will only be evaluating whether he is the best candidate for the open position alongside Usman Khawaja in a series that will be crucial in deciding Australia’s chances of winning the World Test Championship. He has only played six first-class matches, so if he were to make his debut in Perth next month, he would have played eight.
“I think we’re picking the best team for here and now, and if that does encompass a younger player, then we’ll head down that direction,” McDonald told ABC’s Offsiders. “And clearly Sam Konstas, on the back of his first Shield match, and the way he went about his work in the second innings at the MCG against Scott Boland, has definitely made some noise.
“I’ve heard people commentating ‘do you protect the player?’ If they’re ready, they’re ready in our mind, and if Sam’s capable and we feel as though is capable to fill that spot I don’t think that the opponent should come into the equation.”
Shane Watson, Konstas’ coach, has described the present selection controversy as a “perfect storm” that will catapult him into the Test team.
“I think it’s purely is this player good enough to play Test cricket?,” McDonald said. “You’ve got to start against someone, and you shouldn’t be holding back and protecting someone from a potential opponent, and India is a strong opponent but also the advantage of a player playing in Australia for their first Test summer is that the conditions are familiar. What better place to start than in your own back yard.”