Sam Konstas and Scott Boland cop brutal snub despite Ricky Ponting's concerns

Yahoo

2 days ago

Australian cricket captain Pat Cummins has confirmed Sam Konstas and Scott Boland have both been excluded from the starting XI for the World Test Championship final with Marnus Labuschagne and Josh Hazlewood getting the nod. One of the biggest talking points for the Aussies leading up to the final against South Africa at Lord's was who would open the batting alongside Usman Khawaja.
While Khawaja had nailed down his position, in what is likely his last WTC final, the selectors were trying to find a place for either Konstas or Labuschagne in the side. Cameron Green's return to cricket after injury, and subsequently a return to form, prompted the selectors to immediately catapult him back into the side at No.3.
The selectors see him as the future of the Australian batting line-up and his form in the second division of County cricket prompted an immediate recall. With Steve Smith also confirmed at No.4, this meant either Labuschagne or Konstas was set to miss out.
Labuschagne has been holding onto his position in the team by a thread in recent months with his form at all levels of cricket a major concern. Fans have also been calling for a change with the Queenslander's form not good enough across the last few years.
Although Cummins claimed the selectors have rewarded Labuschagne for helping them get to where they are in the final having promoted him up the order to open with Khawaja. "Cam Green, the last few weeks he's had, coming back in great form, we thought he deserved a spot somewhere in the batting line-up,"Cummins said at Lord's on Tuesday.
"We thought three probably suits him best. With Marnus moving, we thought it's one spot up, it's not too different to batting three. He's done well here in England in the past. It's a final, so selectors pick the best 11 for this week."
Konstas captured the Aussie publics attention during the summer when he took it to Jasprit Bumrah at the MCG and SCG to help Australia win a tight series. However, his cavalier style of batting divided fans and eventually the selectors.
Konstas was dropped from the starting XI for the Sri Lanka cricket tour and was eventually sent home to find form in Sheffield Shield. While he based a number of solid scores, Konstas will once again be on the periphery during the WTC final. While Konstas may have lost his position, Labuschagne has done very little to keep his.
Australia's Test No.3 has faced growing calls to be axed for the red-ball test final against South Africa at Lord's with his form dropping off a cliff. Labuschagne only averaged 25.36 with the bat across the summer, after disappointing Test series against India and Sri Lanka.
That came after an equally underwhelming previous year for Labuschagne, where he averaged just 27.08 across the summer of 2023/24. And the 30-year-old only managed scores of 23, 0 and 61 in his three Sheffield Shield innings for Queensland after those Test series.
One of the biggest omissions from the starting XI was that of Boland. The Aussie quick is a crowd favourite and was player-of-the-match when Australia regained the Border-Gavaskar trophy at the SCG in January against India. However, with Hazlewood returning to form in the IPL, having helped RBC win the title, Boland has missed out on selection once again.
'There are some guys where you genuinely say, you know, 'You've done nothing wrong. Don't change a thing.' And that is Scotty. He is just really unfortunate to miss out,' Cummins said.
"Joshy Hazlewood comes back in. We know how good he is. The message to Scotty is there's a lot of Test cricket coming up in the next couple of years, and just because you're mid-30s, doesn't mean you know you're missing this Test, and that's one Test off your career.
"By having a squad of fast bowlers, hopefully we can extend all our careers for an extra couple of years. It's really unfortunate Scotty misses this but the message to him is, 'Don't feel like you're running out of time'."
Only last month, Aussie cricket legend Ricky Ponting felt the selectors would lean this way when the move Labuschagne up the order. Although the legendary batter was not 100 per cent convinced Labuschagne should open after his recent dip in form. "I actually think that that will go with Labuschagne," Ponting said on the ICC Review podcast. "Looking back to the last World Test Championship Final there was some talk about David Warner and whether he should hold his spot going into that.
"And there was a bit of talk around the team about wanting to get through that period or that phase or if you like, with the same group of players and give them the chance to, to be able to play off in that one-off final. Labuschagne has been through this cycle with the team, albeit batting at No.3 and I think they will want to get through the cycle with the same players so I think Labuschagne will get the nod. Whether I agree with it or not, it's a different thing...all will be revealed in the next couple of weeks."
AUSTRALIA: Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Beau Webster, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins (capt), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.
SOUTH AFRICA: Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, Wiaan Mulder, Temba Bavuma (capt), Tristan Stubbs, David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne, Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi.