Head coach Andrew McDonald may be forced to make some harsh changes ahead of Australia's next Test assignment.
Australia had an underwhelming run at the World Test Championship (WTC) Final 2025 against South Africa at Lord’s. Nine out of 11 players failed to make 25+ runs in the first innings. Steven Smith (66) and Beau Webster (72) dragged the score to 212. The second innings was pretty much a repeat show, with Mitchell Starc (58) and Alex Carey (43) as top contributors.
Head coach Andrew McDonald offered several insights as he reflected on Australia’s unexpected defeat, while also considering the potential impact of Smith’s finger injury. Ahead of the West Indies series and the Ashes towards the end of this year, one of the harsh changes would be the absence of Marnus Labuschagne.
Labuschagne appears increasingly at risk of being left out for the West Indies tour, while Sam Konstas and Josh Inglis are both in contention for recalls. Usman Khawaja, on the other hand, has all but secured his spot through to the end of the Ashes. If the Caribbean pitches favour spin, selectors are likely to push Travis Head up the order to open the batting. In that case, they would place Inglis in the middle order, and Konstas may open.
The head coach framed the situation as a bid to help the 30-year-old rediscover his best form, rather than a permanent exclusion from Test cricket.
McDonald said, “Other people are judging that and saying that’s unsettling. I think we’ve got a group that understands when we’re at home it looks a certain way, and when we’re away it can potentially shift. We don’t want to play in spite of the conditions getting ready for the Ashes.”
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Smith dropped a relatively simple catch off Temba Bavuma and dislocated his finger. Australia may consider bringing in an additional batter as cover for Smith ahead of the Caribbean tour. However, a final decision will be delayed for a few days while they assess how his finger recovers.
“He (Smith)’s going to travel with us. I think it’s just really about assessing what he can do and what he’s capable of doing. If Steve wasn’t available for the first Test match, I think that would lend itself to having extra batting coverage because if we lost another player, then we’d be short in terms of what we have on the bench and available. So at this stage it will probably depend on what his injury looks like and assessment in the next week leading into the first Test there,” the coach added.
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