‘A tough, tough call’: Bailey explains McSweeney’s Test axing as Konstas gets the nod

Head selector George Bailey has stopped short of conceding that picking Nathan McSweeney out of position as an opener against India was a mistake, but admitted replacing the 25-year-old after just three Tests was a “really hard decision”.

McSweeney has been axed from Australia’s squad for the Boxing Day and Sydney Tests, with NSW young gun Sam Konstas in the frame to receive his maiden Baggy Green at the MCG on Boxing Day.

After fast bowler Jhye Richardson was chosen in an extended 15-man Australian squad for the Melbourne and Sydney Tests alongside Beau Webster and Sean Abbott, Bailey faced reporters on Zoom to discuss the most contentious selection during his time in charge, with the Border-Gavaskar series finely poised at 1-1 with two matches to play.

As revealed by this masthead on Thursday, McSweeney’s spot in Australia’s XI was heavily debated after two single-digit scores during the drawn third Test at the Gabba. Bailey rang McSweeney on Friday morning to deliver the news he would not be travelling to Melbourne on Sunday.

Australia will either pick Konstas to open in a straight swap with McSweeney, or consider inserting Josh Inglis or Webster in the middle of the order and sliding players up. Bailey would not reveal which way the selectors were leaning, six days out from a crucial fourth Test.

“We’ve had preliminary chats [about the batting order]. I think given the frenetic [nature] of the last three Tests, [it is about] respecting that there is a little bit of a gap to Melbourne,” Bailey said.

Australian Test squad for Melbourne and Sydney Tests

• Pat Cummins (NSW/Penrith Cricket Club) (c)
• Sean Abbott (NSW/Parramatta District Cricket Club)
• Scott Boland (VIC/Frankston Peninsula Cricket Club)
• Alex Carey (SA/Glenelg Cricket Club)
• Travis Head (SA/Tea Tree Gully Cricket Club) (vc)
• Josh Inglis (WA/Joondalup Cricket Club)  
• Usman Khawaja (QLD/Valley District Cricket Club)
• Sam Konstas (NSW/Sutherland District Cricket Club)
• Marnus Labuschagne (QLD/Redlands Cricket Club)
• Nathan Lyon (NSW/Northern District Cricket Club)
• Mitchell Marsh (WA/Fremantle Cricket Club)
• Jhye Richardson (WA/Fremantle Cricket Club)
• Steve Smith (NSW/Sutherland Cricket Club) (vc)
• Mitchell Starc (NSW/Manly Warringah Cricket Club)
• Beau Webster (TAS/Kingborough Cricket Club)

“Clearly we’ve got a number of options there. We’ll work through that and be really clear prior to Boxing Day.

“That’s never a great phonecall is it? It’s a tough, tough call. A really hard decision … and one we spent a lot of time deliberating over, particularly after a small sample size of three Tests.

“Nathan was disappointed. The message to him was much the same as at the start of the series. We believe he’s got the ability and temperament to succeed at Test level but the way the series has played out, we just want the option of throwing something different at India for this next Test.

“Sam, alternatively, was incredibly excited.”

Nathan McSweeney.Credit: Getty Images

Bailey and fellow selectors Andrew McDonald and Tony Dodemaide took a major gamble by picking McSweeney, who is not a specialist opener, to bat at the top of the order in such a huge series. From three Tests, McSweeney has made 72 runs at 14.4.

Earlier this week, former Australian coach Darren Lehmann said he thought Bailey was too close to players and unable to make hard calls, but Friday’s selection shake-up shows a willingness to make changes to find a solution to the threat of Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah.

McSweeney made bulk runs for South Australia and Australia A to sway selectors in the lead-up to the series, but there was always a question mark over his ability to face the new ball. The South Australian captain averaged 20 from eight Sheffield Shield matches when coming into bat in the first three overs of an innings.

Bailey was asked if selectors had erred by putting him in at the top of the order.

Sam Konstas in action for NSW.Credit: Getty Images

“In the lead up to the series, he was performing incredibly well,” Bailey said. “I think the key around that [selection] was [around] his methodology and the way he plays. We believed it doesn’t change too much wherever he’s coming in the order. It hasn’t quite worked out as you’d like it to … but it’s still very much the start of his career.”

Konstas, 19, could make his debut in front of more than 90,000 fans at the MCG after an impressive year with the bat.

This masthead revealed that Konstas received a phone call early on Friday afternoon from Bailey after Sydney Thunder training informing him of his selection in Australia’s squad.

Konstas will play for the Thunder on Saturday against the Sydney Sixers before flying to Melbourne on Sunday to link up with the Test squad.

The NSW opener made twin hundreds in a Sheffield Shield match against South Australia earlier this year, followed by a century for the Prime Minister’s XI against India and another score of 88 against Western Australia at the SCG. He then brought up a 50 off 20 balls on his Big Bash debut to strengthen his case.

“I think it’s as much the new information from this series,” Bailey said. “I think Sam’s method and style is different to Nathan’s. It just provides a different look of throwing something at India. I don’t think necessarily the top six has quite functioned to the level that we need in this series as a whole.”

Former Test opener Ed Cowan highlighted McSweeney’s struggles against the new ball before the series.

“The data would suggest that at the moment in his career, he doesn’t have the technique nor the temperament to do it,” Cowan said on the ABC’s Grandstand Cricket Podcast. “You know what a selection, when the data doesn’t support your point of view, is? It’s a guess.”

Inglis has been in Australia’s squad as a spare batsman and could come into calculations for the MCG Test. Scott Boland is expected to replace the injured Josh Hazlewood in the XI, with Richardson and Abbott added as cover given the back-to-back Tests.

Bailey said there had been no thought of dropping Usman Khawaja.

“You’re always looking for your senior players to be the leaders in how you play,” Bailey said. “We value the left-hand [option] at the top of the order. There wasn’t a great deal of consideration to moving him. [Marnus Labuschagne] has been on record saying he’d like to be scoring more runs. We’d love him to be scoring more runs.”

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