McDonald backs Konstas as Australia brace for more tricky tracks
Bridgetown: Australian coach Andrew McDonald has called for patience with teenage opener Sam Konstas after a rocky return to the Test team on a pitch that caught the tourists by surprise in what could be a sign of things to come in Grenada.
Members of the Australian team celebrated with piña coladas on a Barbados beach after their comprehensive 159-run win in the first Test against the West Indies.
Alex Carey's tongue-in-cheek remark on Triple M that '60 on that deck is probably worth 200' underlined how difficult Australia's batsmen found conditions in Bridgetown, including Konstas, who made scores of three and five.
The second Test begins Thursday at the National Cricket Stadium in Grenada — a venue that's hosted just four Tests since 2002. The most recent, in 2022, didn't see a team make more than 300.
'We were definitely put under pressure throughout that whole game,' McDonald told reporters the morning after Australia's win. 'Incredible partnership from Travis [Head] and Beau [Webster] to navigate through and give us something to bowl at.
'The wicket surprised us. There was enough seam and variable bounce, which made it difficult for batting.
'It's a step into the unknown [in Grenada]. We'll make an educated guess as to what the surface may do. I think it could lend itself to being a pace bowling dominated series if they keep the surfaces similar to that.'
McDonald all but confirmed Konstas would be retained for the second Test with Khawaja at the top of the order and gave his verdict on the youngster's scratchy five off 38 balls in the second innings after being dropped twice on zero.
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