Sam Konstas average from five Tests is just 16.30, and he had a tough time in the recent series against the West Indies.
Sam Konstas will look to retain his place in Australia’s Test team during the upcoming tour of India with the Australia A side. He has been named in the 14 player squad that will play two four day matches against India A in Lucknow this September. While the tour is important for Konstas’ development, the selectors have picked the squad with long term goals in mind, focusing more on the 2027 Test tour of India than the Ashes in 2025.
Konstas had a great start to his Test career, scoring 60 runs in his debut innings against India at the MCG. But since then, he has found it hard to score consistently. In his next nine innings, he has made only 103 more runs. His average from five Tests is just 16.30, and he had a tough time in the recent series against the West Indies.
Even though Sam Konstas has not been in the best form recently, he still has a good chance of making the Ashes 2025 squad. But other openers have done well in the Sheffield Shield, and Australia are looking at different options for the top order.
Nathan McSweeney has been named in the Australia A squad to face India A. He was earlier given a chance in the Test side during the 2024–25 Border Gavaskar Trophy but struggled to make an impact, scoring just 72 runs in six innings. After being dropped and replaced by Sam Konstas, McSweeney hasn’t done quite enough in domestic cricket to force his way back.
In the 2024–25 Sheffield Shield, he scored 478 runs in six matches at an average of 43.45, including one century and three fifties. He might still be in the mix for the Ashes squad along with Konstas, but at the moment, Konstas seems to have a slight edge when it comes to making the playing eleven.
Oliver Peake has also been included in the Australia A squad to face India A. He and Sam Konstas were part of the same Under 19 team that won the World Cup last year. Peake is still very new to first class cricket, having played only two matches so far.
He scored 73 runs across two innings for Victoria in the 2024–2025 Sheffield Shield, including a half-century, and recently made 92 against Sri Lanka A in his second first class game. While he might be too inexperienced to be considered for a big series like the Ashes just yet, but the India A tour is a good chance to gain experience.
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Another opener selected for the Australia A squad is Campbell Kellaway from Victoria. He had a strong domestic season, scoring 738 runs in 10 matches at an average of 46.53, including two centuries and four fifties. Although he opened the batting for Victoria in most games, he has also done well at No. 3 earlier in his career.
Kellaway has played more first class matches than Sam Konstas but is still inexperienced at the international level, as he is yet to make his debut. But the way he played in the recent domestic season has probably made the selectors notice him. He might be another player who can give tough competition to Konstas for a spot in the Test team.
Australia A four-day squad to face India A: Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Jack Edwards, Aaron Hardie, Campbell Kellaway, Sam Konstas, Nathan McSweeney, Lance Morris, Todd Murphy, Fergus O’Neill, Oliver Peake, Josh Philippe, Corey Rocchiccioli, Liam Scott
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