Australia coach Andrew McDonald has opened up on the headaches of deciding the ‘perfect’ Playing XI for the side, as the reigning World Test champions are gearing up to appear in their 2nd consecutive WTC Final.
Australia will be facing South Africa at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground in London for the summit clash, and Andrew McDonald revealed that the side are eyeing the options available to them in concern with deciding the opening partner of Usman Khawaja (as David Warner has now retired from international cricket).
“I think he (Green) can bat anywhere. He could be three, he could be five, he could be six, he could open. I think he’s got the temperament, the skillset, the defensive play as well. The higher up you go defensive skills are a priority, and he’s got all bases covered. He plays the short ball well. You’re not going to get a negative word from the coach about Cameron Green and his batting,” said Andrew McDonald, tipping Cameron Green as an opening option alongside Sam Konstas & Marnus Labuschagne.
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Speaking on his potential place in the Playing XI, Andrew McDonald said the following:
“There’s an XI on a board but it has dashes with multiple names in different positions. As we put the squad together the first part is to have a 15, to give yourself all options. Do we need to play the all-rounder? It depends on the conditions and that will then shuffle batting positions. We are quite flexible in our approach to that.”
“It will depend on the all-rounder. If you need the all-rounder in the conditions, that would then lend itself to a decision around the top order. It will be how much we prioritise the bowling element. We’ve got roughly what we think it might look like, then there will be some decisions when we get to the pointy end. We’ll try to give clarity to the players the closer we get.”
