‘Easy option is to call for change’: Australia coach McDonald against rushing for regeneration

New Delhi, Aug 17 (IANS) Australia coach Andrew McDonald has sounded a note of caution on a demanded shake-up in the Test side following its embarrassing defeat to Bangladesh in the first Test in Darwin. He has emphasised that the players, who have been put under scrutiny for their recent performances, still have a “fair bit of cricket left in them”.

Following the Aussies’ first-ever defeat to Bangladesh at home on Sunday, voices grew louder over making tweaks to the Test side, starting with changes to one of the opening spots and that of No.3 as Jake Weatherland and Marnus Labuschagne are facing the heat. Former captain Ricky Ponting advocated for the shake-up, stating that the spots needed “regeneration”.

However, McDonald has put his weight behind the under-fire batters, stating the guys are “feeling” the painful defeat. “It’s always going to be a conversation, the age profile of the team, where we’re at, how we’re travelling. A loss doesn’t help that,” McDonald said, as quoted by cricket.com.au. “But these players have got a fair bit of cricket left in them, I believe.”

“It’s just really how we navigate through it. There’s always going to be calls for change on the back of a loss. There’s going to be an emotion around that from the outside – and even internally. Our guys sit in that change room, and they’re feeling it. You feel a Test loss. It means a lot to them to play for Australia, so let’s not lose that in all this as well.”

The coach added that the pundits call for change even when the team wins, and it is not an easy option. “The easy option is to call for change. A lot of people call for change even when we’re winning. They’re entitled to do that as well on the back of a performance like that. Why wouldn’t they? That’s part of our lot.”

McDonald further stated that the selection panel will not be emotional when considering the team for the second Test in Mackay, which starts on August 22, but hinted at broadening the playing group after the defeat. “I don’t think it’s going to be like, ‘Oh, we’ve lost this Test match, so then suddenly it’s immediately we shift things’. We will work through exactly what we normally work through to come to a conclusion for the best XI that goes out there,” he said.

“We’re not emotional around change in terms of, ‘if we lose a game, then we need change’. It’s the ability to think through, ‘Okay, what does it look like? How do we maximise our playing group, and how do we get the best out of them?’ And if change was to be a part of that, it would be us deciding that the team would be better with someone else in there.”

Meanwhile, he also spoke on Labuschagne’s performance in the match, stating that the management “wants runs as the bottom line” as he reflected on his 31 in the second innings of the Darwin defeat. “We want runs is the bottom line. “I think it was 31 he got in the second innings, and up until the point he got out, you’d sit there and say he was looking good.

“He was moving well, he’s clipping off his pads, he was getting back through the ball down the ground. So it’s easy for me to sit here and try to defend that, but ultimately it’s 31. It’s not a big score. He’s lacked runs. He feels that. We feel that. We’re working incredibly hard as a coaching group.

Labuschagne was dropped from the Australian side last year against the West Indies and was told to make changes to his batting method. McDonald is pleased that he has made the tweaks, but he came under pressure on the occasion in Darwin. “It’s one thing to talk about the player. You’ve got to talk coaching. We’ve got to get the best out of Marn as well. And we’re working through that.

“I think we saw some change in the way that he played, so that’s good. So some of that work that he had done feels as though it’s stuck under pressure, and that’s always a hard part too. You can try to make these changes, and then when you get put under extreme pressure in the middle, sometimes those changes don’t hold. So it was good to see them hold up. But it is 31. He’s disappointed with that missed opportunity. He needs some big runs.”

–IANS

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