Skipper Pat Cummins said that there is one fixed player for a top-order role
Australia losing a big match always brings a ton of pressure on whoever is responsible for the defeat. Pat Cummins’ side were consistent throughout the 2023-25 cycle of World Test Championship (WTC) as they beat bitter rivals England to begin with and followed it up with wins over Pakistan, the West Indies and sealed a spot in the final with a series win over India.
Everything seemed to come together during the league phase for a successful defence of their 2023 title. But the final in the Lord’s in early June was a painful jolt. They looked solid for a while against South Africa. But soon enough, the cracks in their batting line-up started showing up.
Except for a couple of performances, they were found out by a rampaging Proteas pace attack led by a brilliant Kagiso Rabada. Their opening combination of Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne could put up partnerships of only 12 and 28. Both the experienced batters failed to cross 30 runs in both innings. This opened doors for explosive batter Josh Inglis to revive his Test career while Sam Konstas, who is looked at as the future fixture for the opening slot, got his big chance again.
Australia had put the onus on young pace-bowling all-rounder Cameron Green for the crucial No.3 slot soon after he hit form with Gloucestershire in the County Championship with three hundreds. Green was coming off a long injury lay-off after a back surgery. He managed scores of four and a duck in the WTC Final.
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Australia captain Pat Cummins is keen on giving Green a longer run despite a slow start in the new position. As the new WTC cycle begins with the tour of the West Indies, Cummins more or less confirmed that Green will continue batting at No.3.
“I always like to not have too many moving parts. We see that [Green at No.3] as a long-term option. I think going into last week he’s hitting the ball really well, he’s moving really well. He had a Test match where it obviously didn’t go to plan. Think he only faced three or four balls, so the message is not to look into that too much. We’re really happy with where his game’s placed and I dare say we’ll get a decent run of No. 3,” Cummins said during the press-conference before the first Test in Bridgetown.
Green continuing at No.3 also means one place less in the playing XI for Marnus Labuschagne or Sam Konstas.
Konstas was sent back from Sri Lanka earlier this year as he was deemed out of favour for the opening slot by the selectors. But Labuschagne is under more pressure to perform in the Sheffield Shield.
The 31-year-old hasn’t scored a Test hundred since the 2023 Ashes. He got close to a hundred only once in 30 innings when he was dismissed on 90 against New Zealand in March last year. In the Sheffield Shield 2024-25, Labuschagne played four games for Queensland. He scored two fifties from seven innings at an average of 38.
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