Sam Konstas set to be overlooked, as Marcus Harris and Cameron Bancroft to open for Australia A
Selection chair George Bailey acknowledged selectors would have to squeeze four top-three batting options into three spots for Australia A’s clash with India A this week, and a budding superstar may have to wait for his chance to impress.
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Marcus Harris is likely to open with Cameron Bancroft in this week’s Australia A clash against India A in Mackay.
It’s understood the veteran pair have been earmarked to get the first crack in the match, beginning on Thursday in Mackay, ahead of teen contender Sam Konstas.
Selection chair George Bailey acknowledged on Monday that selectors would have to squeeze four top-three batting options into three spots for the game, with South Australia and Australia A captain Nathan McSweeney generally batting at first drop.
Harris and Bancroft are both Test discards, with neither having a Test century to their names.
It is expected that Konstas will get the chance to open at some stage during the two Australia A matches, the second coming at the MCG and beginning on November 7.
Australian coach Andrew McDonald told the ABC on Sunday that selectors would not finalise their first Test squad until after the second A match.
Konstas, McSweeney, Harris and Bancroft appear the four contenders for the vacant Test top six spot after Bailey shut down the prospect that national white-ball wicketkeeper Josh Inglis could bat in the top order at Test level in the short-term.
Incumbent No. 3 Marnus Labuschagne told SEN that it made sense for Steve Smith to return to No. 4, as has been flagged, leaving a vacancy at the top of the order.
“Having Steve Smith who is probably our best No. 4 of all-time, creates a lot of security for the team. I think that’s where he’s best suited,” Labuschagne said.
“That obviously leads us on to who’s going to open the batting, and at the moment I honestly don’t know what way they’re going to go.
“A few rounds in certainly the big performers so far have been Alex Carey, Josh Inglis and probably Nathan McSweeney and Sam Konstas - they’ve probably been the big performers in the first four innings of Shield cricket.
“But there’s two Australia A games, another Shield game, so there’s about six to eight innings to go before selection.
“So we’ll have to wait and see.”
Labuschagne was not writing off Bancroft despite his slow start to the Shield season.
“There’s also heaps of guys that I didn’t mention there that are still in the running,” Labuschagne said.
“With six or eight innings to go, that’s a lot of time to make a push.
“The likes of Matt Renshaw, Marcus Harris, Cameron Bancroft, they’re all seasoned professionals, they’ve done this for years and have been consistent for years.
“Certainly you wouldn’t want to be judging them off one or two innings because you’ve got a lot of sample size there.”
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Originally published as Sam Konstas set to be overlooked, as Marcus Harris and Cameron Bancroft to open for Australia A
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