Australian selectors’ last decision on their World Test Championship final team: Sam Konstas v Marnus Labuschagne
Cameron Green is locked in – leaving one final call for selectors to make for the World Test Championship. Sam Konstas v Marnus Labuschagne. See the case for each, and our verdict on the battle.
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Cameron Green has locked in the second last piece of Australia’s World Test Championship jigsaw, leaving Marnus Labuschagne and Sam Konstas in a one-on-one shootout for glory.
The majority of Australia’s squad to face South Africa at Lord’s on June 11 will fly to the UK on Thursday, while star Josh Hazlewood will build up his bowling loads in India before he belatedly joins the team in London once his duties in the IPL finals’ series are complete.
There were a few variables in Australia’s quest to fill the final two spots in its top order, but the equation appears to have been simplified significantly now that Green has stormed to a third English county century in five matches in his return from back surgery.
Green is still not up to bowling and is only available for the WTC Final as a specialist batsman, but – provided his body stays right – it’s impossible to ignore him now he has certified red ball run-scoring form at a time when the other Australian batters have either been playing in the IPL or haven’t been playing at all.
Whether it’s opening or at No.3 or No.4, Green has to be there.
Allrounder Beau Webster also seems all but cemented in the line-up because Australia will want a fourth seam bowling option to back-up the big three quicks, and the Tasmanian is in decent form himself with a 41 and an 85 from his three English county matches.
So it all comes down to this:
The experience of Labuschagne versus the 19-year-old Konstas.
It’s as close to a 50-50 call as you can get.
Labuschagne is hanging on by the barest of threads, but his 11 Test centuries and average of 46 is evidence of what he is capable of, while Konstas looms large as the future and cannot be denied much longer.
Let’s break down the arguments for both chargers.
THE CASE FOR LABUSCHAGNE
Of course Labuschagne is there to make runs, but Australia would lose plenty in the field without the fittest and most energetic player in the line-up.
Labuschagne is a dynamic cricketer and like most good players, offers more to the XI than just his chosen discipline of batting.
Another factor in the 30-year-old’s favour is that the WTC is cricket’s equivalent of a grand final.
Labuschagne has been a staple part of the side at No.3 for the duration of this two-year cycle and if this was a football GF, he would be backed in for the big one.
It isn’t though, and Test cricket has always been built on picking your best XI for every individual Test.
But on this marker, Labuschagne also should not be underestimated.
Labuschagne has now gone 28 Test innings without a century – which is a long drought in anyone’s estimations – but he still averages 46.76 at the highest level.
There aren’t many better batting records in the modern game than what the right-hander has accrued over his 57 Tests.
Labuschagne also hasn’t completely bottomed out with his form.
At the MCG in a vital Test against India over the summer he made important contributions of 72 and 70.
In Adelaide, in another crucial Test coming off a loss and in an innings where he was effectively playing for his career, he carved out 64 in difficult conditions.
There was also a 90 against New Zealand and three 60s against Pakistan the previous summer.
Overall, Labuschagne also has a decent record in England and has played a lot of cricket in the UK, although his three recent county scores of 0, 4 and 23 haven’t helped his cause.
Speculation has centred around whether Labuschagne might be asked to open if he survives the cut.
It’s a role he wasn’t keen to take on when it was last available and it was ultimately filled by Steve Smith – but as a No.3 he is certainly used to coming in early to face the new ball and it’s not exactly a quantum leap.
Labuschagne needs to land a knock-out blow, and selectors must decide whether to throw in the towel on him heading into the final round, or give the champ the chance to climb off the canvas one last time against his country of birth in a WTC Final.
THE CASE FOR KONSTAS
There is no doubt Konstas was extremely stiff to lose his place for the tour of Sri Lanka earlier this year when he was fresh from his series-defining debut performance against India.
Australia made a conditions-based decision to promote Travis Head to his opening spot and trust the prowess against spin bowling of Josh Inglis.
But the horses-for-courses plan always involved an intention to return Konstas to the top of the order for this WTC Final at Lord’s.
After Sri Lanka, Konstas caused temperatures to rise when he suffered a brain explosion against Scott Boland and Victoria at the SCG in a match for NSW, however, he bounced back to finish off the Sheffield Shield season in solid fashion, posting two steady half centuries.
Konstas’ sample-size might be small, but he is so far 2-0 as a Test cricketer and on top of turning the momentum of the series in Australia’s favour in Melbourne, it could be argued he also played a decent hand in Sydney with scores of 23 and 22, given the volatile role the SCG pitch played in a match that was all over in three days.
Australia turned to Konstas in a pressure-cooker of a situation against one of the most unplayable bowlers of all time, and although Konstas delivered in unorthodox fashion and with an unsustainable style of batting, he did not let them down on the biggest stage a kid could ever debut on.
A top three of Khawaja, Labuschagne and Green runs the risk of being bogged down, and Konstas would certainly offer an attacking counterbalance, provided he can find the right balance between aggression and outright recklessness.
After the failed Steve Smith experiment, why stuff around trialling another makeshift opener when you have one ready to go?
There is a feeling that if selectors don’t return Konstas for the WTC Final, they certainly have to get him in for the next Test against the West Indies in Barbados.
Australia’s top order is ageing and three Tests away from the spotlight against the Windies leading into an Ashes summer would seem an unmissable opportunity.
Some would say if that’s the thinking for two Tests time, then why not just enact it now?
THE VERDICT
I could accept either call from selectors, it’s that tight – but all things considered I’d back in Sam Konstas.
Originally published as Australian selectors’ last decision on their World Test Championship final team: Sam Konstas v Marnus Labuschagne
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