Aussie selectors' rare move turns up heat on Marnus Labuschagne ahead of WTC final

Yahoo

a day ago

The battle is heating up between Marnus Labuschagne and Sam Konstas to earn a spot at the top of the order for Australia in next week's World Test Championship final against South Africa. And if a rare move from Aussie selectors at the team's training camp in London is anything to go by, both men would appear to be right in contention to be named Usman Khawaja's partner at the top of the order.
Previous reports indicated Labuschagne was set to pip Konstas and be named to open for the first time in his Test career for the showpiece final at Lord's, starting on June 11. But the presence of Australia's entire panel of selectors in London would suggest it's far from a done deal and young gun Konstas is still in the frame to earn his Test recall.
Usually only two of Australia's selectors would be on hand before any given Test, but coach Andrew McDonald was joined by both selection chief George Bailey and Tony Dodemaide to run their eye over the Aussie training camp in London. And right at the top of the agenda will be deciding which batter gets the nod to open the batting against the Proteas, with Cameron Green expected to slot back in at No.4 and Steve Smith to shift up one spot to No.3
It's understood selectors were leaning towards promoting Labuschagne to open but the veteran's patchy recent form has opened the door for Konstas. And the young gun looked sharp during Australia's training camp in London after being told to work on a number of technical issues with his batting.
Both batters were given a stern examination from the Aussie quicks, but it was Konstas that reportedly looked the more impressive. With Josh Hazlewood absent after winning the IPL title with Royal Challengers Bengaluru this week, Aussie skipper Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland put both batters to the sword and Konstas had clearly taken the feedback about his technique on board.
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The 19-year-old looked far more compact and measured than the batter whose flashy but often erratic shot-making saw him dropped after his memorable debut Test series against India, and sent back to Sheffield Shield to work on his technique. Labuschagne appeared less comfortable in the net session than his young rival and may well be down on confidence after a lean run of form with the bat over the last couple of years.
However, experience could count massively in the favour of Labuschagne, who has 11 Test tons to his name and two half centuries from three Test innings at Lord's. The 30-year-old has never opened at Test level before though, and averaged just 25.36 with the bat across the summer, after disappointing Test series against India and Sri Lanka. He also had underwhelming stints with Queensland in Sheffield Shield, as well as a lacklustre cameo with Welsh county side, Glamorgan.
Former South African quick Vernon Philander warned that if Labuschagne was picked to open for Australia, then he was a batter the Proteas' bowlers would certainly look to target at Lord's. "Australia have a bit of a defect against the moving ball,' Philander told SportsBoom. "Technically and mentally, South Africa's batsmen perhaps have the upper hand with the general overhead conditions in England and the Duke ball being completely different to the Kookaburra.
'So, the Proteas bowlers will certainly want to exploit that. Marnus Labuschagne has been short of runs, as has Steve Smith to an extent in the previous couple of seasons. So there's a window of opportunity there, their shortfalls will be in the back of the mind. Tactically, the ball nips around at Lord's and Australia's top order could be vulnerable especially since our bowlers have the ability to get the ball a touch fuller.'